Encarta Premium Suite claims a base of 130,000+ articles, along with 25,300+ photos and illustrations and 1.8 million map locations. That's more than a bit of bedtime reading, although of course there are really only two reasons why people buy digital encyclopedias these days -- either they've got kids to educate, or they're after some verifiable and quotable facts for a research project. For almost anyone else, of course, there's Google.

One day Microsoft might realise that forcing its customers to have a Bill Gates issued 'passport' to use services on the internet sticks in people's gullets like a jagged fishbone. In the case of Microsoft Money you need a passport if you want to take advantage of its online banking services, but once you do sign up you find that it is the one area of an otherwise excellent program that does not work properly.

You might think making sense of numeric error codes is no big deal now that we've got the web, but it's not quite that simple yet.

The big test for any interactive encyclopaedia is how well it deals with local information. Microsoft quickly learned that Australian students are not interested in an American view of the world and for the past few editions of its Encarta it has been putting a lot of effort into the Australian content.

What makes Publisher different is its automated approach to design through its colour and font schemes and huge range of publication templates. These are handled via the redesigned Task Pane, which now has a simplified Start panel offering drill-down access to project types split into print, Web and themed sets. Another ten attractive master sets increase the total to 45.

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Microsoft has been producing its Encarta Encyclopedia and World Atlas since the early 1990s, but despite several attempts it has never produced anything that could rightfully claim to be an Australian edition...