Microsoft Student With Encarta Premium 2007 (Windows)

MICROSOFT STUDENT WITH ENCARTA PREMIUM 2007 is an all-in-one homework helper for students in sixth through 12th grades that combines the excellent Encarta Premium Edition encyclopedia with a variety of homework helpers in math, foreign languages, and writing. It also helps students with researching, outlining, and writing projects. Microsoft Student opens up to a clean interface offering three methods of navigation: Homework, Projects, and Discover & Learn.

The foreign-language help covers French, German, Spanish, and Italian with additional Web site links to Latin and Japanese dictionaries. Students may be impressed by the Book Summaries, which offers author information, analyses of the themes and characters of each book, and lists of possible ideas or themes for reports and papers Students can also obtain step-by-step homework help for math problems from their specific math book via a partnership with the outstanding Hotmath Web site.

Overall, this is an excellent, comprehensive resource. To get the full benefit, families will need to own Microsoft Office XP or 2003. Microsoft Student 2007 offers a variety of presentation templates that rely on Microsoft's Power Point. The software also uses charts and graphs found in Microsoft Excel, including an excellent Grade Tracker spreadsheet.

Families will need an Internet connection and a Microsoft .NET Passport to be able to use the Hotmath help, the Encarta Web Links service, and other online resources.