Planning a journey on the UK's embarrassingly inefficient rail network can be problematic. It's simple enough - at least in planning terms - if you only want to travel within one franchise's area, but as soon ...

CD-based reference software can seem a bit dull. For example, encyclopaedias been given away with new PCs for so long that they're hardly even noticed any more. That's a shame, because while the idea may not ...

Once you reach the age of 12 or so, learning a new language becomes progressively harder. Various techniques have been employed to help make the process easier, including audio and video tapes and structured evening classes, ...

Ordnance Survey maps are the staple of ramblers, walkers, climbers, cyclists and other outdoorsy types all over the UK. They're highly detailed maps showing contours, roads, railways, rivers, lakes, sites of interest and all sorts of ...

Explaining the concept of stars, galaxies and the universe in general is a tough task, but multimedia titles such as this can certainly help to dispel some of the confusion. Deep Space Explorer lets you take ...

I wonder how many people have Stephen Hawking's "A brief history of time" on their bookshelves, unopened and gathering dust. It seemed like a good idea at the time; an accessible, easy to read book about ...

We've been reviewing each new version of the CD/DVD Encyclopaedia Britannica for the last few years, and a thought occurs... Has so much really happened in the last year compared with the entire history of human ...

The Louvre is without doubt the world's most impressive greenhouse, although it's depressingly bereft of fruit and veg produce. What were those foolish Parisian architects thinking...? Apparently there's a few reasonably famous doodlings underneath it, though. ...

It must be said that Focus likes its space titles - it wasn't that long ago that the company unleashed RedShift 4 on us. This program, however, is very different in tack, presenting an encyclopaedic overview ...

The words "Red Dwarf" probably make you think of a comedy programme, and "White Dwarf" a role playing game magazine (depending on how mis-spent your youth was). However, if your mind immediately leaps to images of ...

The Hutchinson effort is acknowledged as one of the heavyweight contenders for the multimedia encyclopaedia top spot, and the year 2001 version brings with it the usual round of enhancements. It sings, it dances, it juggles ...

We reviewed an earlier version of this reference tool in January 2000 (you can read the review here), and found it to be stunning, packed full of fascinating articles which were linked together in ways that ...

AutoRoute 2001, the latest (and just a shade early) upgrade to this well-established route planning tool, now covers roads and cities in continental Europe as well as Great Britain and includes GPS support. However, in most ...

Despite being around for many years, route planning tools are routinely criticised for being too slow and inaccurate. Can Route 66 Route Britain 2000 do better? Things start well: this package offers an accurate postcode and ...

Remember the days when encyclopaedia salesmen would knock at the door, weighed down with massive tomes of knowledge? No, neither do I, but apparently it used to happen. Then along came CD, and those poor souls ...

As the intro screen for Centuries of Europe fades gracefully into focus, backed by the stirring strains of some classical anthem, it almost makes one feel like hoisting the European flag in one's front garden. If ...

BodyWorks 6.0 sets out to be 'complete and completely educational'. In its DVD version it naturally comes on just one disc, and the main screen is broken up into a display screen, a browser and a ...

This astronomy package has been out for a few months now, but it's worth a look because it's one of the most comprehensive and interesting products of its kind. Astronomy software can veer from the simplistic ...

An Encyclopaedia. There was a time when such things were given away with every PC sold - many still are - but not all such works of reference are created equal. Competing against the likes of ...

Patrick Moore's name is synonymous with astronomy. Host of the television programme 'The Sky at Night' for what seems like several hundred years, he's also a prolific author and former head of the British Astronomical Association. ...