Microsoft pulls plug on Encarta online encyclopedia
- Added:
- Mar 31, 2009
Microsoft is to shut down its Encarta online encyclopedia in October this year, which has been surpassed by user-generated competitors such as Wikipedia.
The move will also see Microsoft terminating its Student and Premium Encarta software products.
In a note on the MSN Encarta website, the company wrote: "The category of traditional encyclopedias and reference material has changed. People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years past."
The Encarta Web sites worldwide will shut down on Oct. 31 and Microsoft will stop selling the software products by June this year.
One exception is the Encarta Japan Web site, which will stay live until the last day of this year.
People who have paid for a subscription to MSN Encarta Premium, which offers them access to more information, will get a refund for fees paid beyond April 30, although they'll continue to be able to access the site until it shuts down in October.
The company will continue to offer technical support for the software products for three years.
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