<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
Multimedia	I-Application
Viewer	I-Application
or	O
simply	O
Viewer	O
was	O
a	O
multimedia	O
authoring	O
tool	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
built	O
upon	O
WinHelp	O
online	O
help	O
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
toolkit	O
was	O
used	O
to	O
develop	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
early	O
Windows	B-Application
CD-ROM	O
reference	O
titles	O
like	O
Encarta	B-Application
,	O
Cinemania	B-Application
and	O
Bookshelf	B-Application
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
for	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
third-party	O
multimedia	O
titles	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
3.1	I-Application
like	O
the	O
CD-ROM	O
edition	O
of	O
The	O
Merck	O
Manual	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
titles	O
for	O
Windows-based	O
PCs	O
,	O
Multimedia	O
Viewer	O
could	O
compile	O
titles	O
for	O
Tandy	B-Operating_System
Video	I-Operating_System
Information	I-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
and	O
other	O
Modular	O
Windows	B-Application
systems	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
Sony	O
Multimedia	O
CD-ROM	O
Player	O
,	O
a	O
portable	O
MS-DOS-based	O
CD-ROM	O
XA	O
reader	O
released	O
in	O
1992	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Viewer	O
did	O
not	O
support	O
a	O
concurrent	O
CD-I	B-Device
data	O
format	O
,	O
with	O
Rob	O
Glaser	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
vice	O
president	O
of	O
Multimedia	O
&	O
Consumer	O
Systems	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
being	O
dismissive	O
of	O
it	O
as	O
"	O
not	O
based	O
on	O
any	O
standard.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
1992	O
comparison	O
of	O
five	O
multimedia	O
authoring	O
tools	O
,	O
including	O
Authorware	B-Application
and	O
Macromind	B-Operating_System
Director	I-Operating_System
,	O
Jim	O
Canning	O
of	O
InfoWorld	O
awarded	O
Viewer	O
1.0	O
the	O
lowest	O
score	O
across	O
the	O
board	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Viewer	O
1.0	O
was	O
intended	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
main	O
tool	O
to	O
build	O
the	O
original	O
edition	O
of	O
Encarta	B-Application
,	O
the	O
encyclopedia	O
's	O
developers	O
deemed	O
it	O
inadequate	O
for	O
the	O
task	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
34%	O
of	O
total	O
Encarta	B-Application
code	O
was	O
added	O
to	O
build	O
features	O
which	O
Viewer	O
could	O
not	O
provide	O
on	O
its	O
own	O
,	O
according	O
to	O
its	O
developers’	O
accounts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
preliminary	O
version	O
of	O
Viewer	O
2.0	O
was	O
made	O
available	O
to	O
the	O
Encarta	B-Application
team	O
before	O
the	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
authoring	O
tool	O
was	O
fully	O
completed	O
.	O
</s>
