Encarta Discontinued

Both the desktop and online versions of Encarta, Microsoft’s digital encyclopedia, will be discontinued in 2009. First created in 1995 as a desktop application and later expanded to include an online service, Encarta faced competition from free online sources, particularly Wikipedia, an encyclopedia whose content is created by Web users. More generally, Web search engines have made it easy for users to find information on almost any conceivable subject. The cancellation is also evidence of continued cost-cutting across the company, as Microsoft prunes less-strategic or unprofitable products.

Microsoft originally created and maintained Encarta, but outsourced it to Websters Multimedia in 2006. The Encarta brand has been applied to various products and services over the years, but in Apr. 2009 Microsoft announced it would discontinue all current Encarta products, which include the following:

Encarta Premium is sold as stand-alone software for a suggested retail price of US$22.50, or as part of Microsoft Student, which retails for US$37.50 and also includes Microsoft Math and various add-ons for Office. Microsoft will stop selling Encarta Premium and Student in June 2009. Existing customers will continue to receive free updates to Encarta content through Oct. 31 in most of the world, and Dec. 31 in Japan. The company will continue to offer technical support for both products for three years from the date of purchase.