Re: OED

["Robert Holmgren" holmgren@xxxxxxxx]

** Reply to message from J R FOX  on Mon, 13
Feb 2012 09:44:17 -0800 (PST)


> If in fact you are summarily stating
> that we can "have it all" with V.4, with no residual advantages
> to the early versions

That is, in fact, what he is saying. And, in fact, he is
correct. If you look vewy vewy closely at the site, you may
even discover the icon that should accompany v4.0.0.3. But
(there are always some buts, aren't there?) the technique
described on the site only works for Windows (not OSX), *and* it
assumes you accept the advantages and disadvantages of v4
versus, say, v1.10 or v1.11, *and* the programming concept
currently pursued in v4 by OUP will probably never -- underscore
never -- work with Linux (due to a fundamental, and
incomprehensible, blunder on the part of all concerned parties,
which is elucidated on the website).

> I have an onion-skin paper 11th edition of the
Encyclopedia Britannica and the articles are fabulous, whereas
the new
Britannica has really been dumbed down.

So true. I also have the 11th (actually the 13th, which is a
reprint of the 11th plus two supplementary volumes), and if you
are willing to accept the state of knowledge in 1909, the info
(and the writing) is simply incomparable. Compare any recent
edition, and the magnitude of loss, at every turn of page, is
just appalling.

> Don't you mean waiting for the 64-bit version?

No, of course he means waiting for 32-bit. 64-bit machines can
thunk 32-bit code; they cannot deal with 16-bit code except
through a virtual machine.

> An enormous advantage of the online edition is its integration with HTOED.

v5 of OED will have it. I don't think the advantage is
"enormous", but merely tangentially interesting; Historical
Thesaurus doesn't strike to the heart of what words mean. But
look: if it is really easy to get the OED online, or you have
$299/year to spare, then go for it. Tonight I'm in Makassar
city, southern Sulawesi island, central Indonesia -- and getting
online is a joke; I have to tether my travelling machine to my
Android mobile, just to get a faint signal. I'm happy to have
multiple options.

-----------------------------
Robert Holmgren
holmgren@xxxxxxxx
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