Shorter Oxford English Dictionary

First of all I was not sure if the dictionary would run with Windows 7. Windows 7 was not included with the operating systems quoted on the back of the cd cover but it works fine.Installation was a pleasant surprise. I have the full OED on cd and installing that can take quite a while. This was lightning fast. My operating system suggested that installation was faulty but on trying it out it worked fine.I like the set up. It's easy to navigate around, very smooth. The entries, quotations etc. are clear.As for the dictionary itself I have yet to make up my mind as I will need to work with it a little bit. In my opinion the OED is the best English dictionary for fulfilling the most important function of a dictionary - imparting an understanding of a word. This version of the Shorter Oxford Dictionary is less forbidding than the older versions which is all to the good. I expect and hope that this latest edition has not lost the clarity of explanation which is a hallmark of most Oxford dictionaries.

If you are a professional writer then this is a must for you. Easy to use and complete, this dictionary also settles any arguments you might have with friends over the meaning of words, or their very existence!

Until this year, I had no problem with this excellent program - because all my PCs had optical disc drives. Now I've updated my laptop to a Notebook-type computer, which has no CD drive, I'm stuck. The obvious thing was to plug in an external CD Drive, which I did, but the PC didn't recognise it, so couldn't load the program from there. I copied the program to a memory stick on one of the PCs in my 'man-cave', and the program appeared to load and instal just fine on the new notepad. However, on first run, the SOED requires to see you have the CD loaded: the memory stick is not 'good enough'. What's needed is secure means of downloading and installing off the web, but the program is 12 years old or more and such a method wasn't envisaged. So my notepad will not have access to this fine dictionary.

Along with my Latin Glossa, it has been invaluable and a great pleasure to have this dictionary on hand for both studies and pleasure.

No problem with Amazon's delivery. The problem was to install in on my Apple MiniMac.(recent 2013 version) No way could I install it. The CD-rom was date stamped 2007!! That is 6 years old!!! After 3 days of hassle I contacted their Tech support I learned that I had to download a file from Internet which contained two patches. In 6 years they have not been able to include this on their disk......I tested it first on my old mini. After a lot of hassle, hey presto, I got it to work.Now onto my new mini. Another three days of hassle. The tech dept had now gone dead on me. Apparently you can only install it once, then the disk can go in the bin.So I've wasted my money and still don't have the dictionary on my Apple. (The pictogram is there alright and cannot be removed!)What a waste of money and effort

To install it, I had to get in touch with the OUP and get another CD_ROM (for Mac), courtesy OUP.

Excellent and easy to use, allowing searches based on descriptions. Covers all modern English plus Bible and Shakespeare, the English Standard.

So pleased to have two volumes that take no shelf space. This is what computer technology was meant for.Also really pleased with 'live' pronunciation. Derivations not quite as full or definitive as I had hoped but it is certainly worth the money.