Encarta - Encyclopedia Free Software

Although mainly sold on CD-ROM and DVD, Microsoft experimented with free access models:

: Featured a virtual globe atlas (powered by MapPoint technology), dynamic timelines, and 360-degree virtual tours.

At its 2008 peak, contained over 62,000 articles and a massive library of multimedia assets. Encarta Encyclopedia Free Software

: Famous for the MindMaze trivia game, where players explored a medieval castle by answering encyclopedia-based questions.

: It originally debuted at $395 , though this price quickly dropped to $99 as it became frequently bundled with new multimedia PCs. Although mainly sold on CD-ROM and DVD, Microsoft

: Included thousands of photos, illustrations, music clips, videos, and interactive animations.

: Starting in 2000, a subset of the full encyclopedia was available for free online, supported by advertisements. : It originally debuted at $395 , though

: After the encyclopedia was discontinued, the online dictionary remained accessible for free until 2011 . Discontinuation and Legacy