On that same page, the company asked itself if other Microsoft educational software would be discontinued as well. As part of Microsoft’s goal to deliver the most effectiveĪnd engaging resources for today’s consumer, it has made the decision to exit the Encarta business.” “People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years past. Reference material has changed,” it said. “The category of traditional encyclopedias and Without mentioning Wikipedia directly, Microsoft explained its decision on a FAQ page for Encarta. (The Japanese site will continue until the end of December.) The Encarta software will be removed from stores by June, Microsoft said, and the affiliated worldwide Web sites will be closed by the end of October. Biden Jr.,įor example, identifies him as vice president-elect and a U.S.

Wikipedia, where volunteer editors quickly update popular entries, Encarta can be embarrassingly outdated. In January, Wikipedia got 97 percent of the visits that Web surfers in the United States made to online encyclopedias, according to the Internet ratings service Hitwise.

Microsoft delivered the coup de grâce Monday to its dying Encarta encyclopedia, acknowledging what everyone else realized long ago: it just couldn’tĬompete with Wikipedia, a free, collaborative project that has become the leading encyclopedia on the Web.

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