Microsoft Reader
| Microsoft Reader
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| developer | Microsoft Corporation |
| Current version | 2.1.1 Build 15 (September 16, 2003) |
| operating system | Windows , Windows Mobile |
| category | E-book viewer |
| License | Proprietary |
| German speaking | Yes |
| microsoft.com/reader | |
The Microsoft Reader is a proprietary computer program to display electronic books ( e-books ) in the Microsoft -own DRM -protected Lit format available. It runs exclusively on Windows operating systems and was discontinued in 2012.
history
The Microsoft Reader was originally planned as part of an overall Microsoft concept on the subject of e-books. After the presentation of a prototype for a corresponding reader in 2000, however, the product was not brought onto the market. Due to the widespread use of the Windows operating system, the reader established itself relatively quickly. But as he for the then widespread Palm - PDA was not offered, he had an important market segment unprocessed. In August 2011, Microsoft announced the end of the project. From November 8, 2011, there will be no new e-books in .lit format. The complete end for the Microsoft Reader app is to take place on August 30, 2012.
Versions
The first version of Microsoft Reader appeared in 2000. The version was not fully developed, in particular it did not yet have the digital rights management that is important for commercial marketing , so that the mature version 2.0 with new functions was released soon afterwards in 2001. In addition to the versions for Windows PCs and Pocket PCs, an adaptation to tablet computers is also offered.
The 2003 released version 2.1.1 is the most recent of the reader. Since then, apart from a few bug fixes , the program has not been further developed.
Version 2.1 had the following system requirements
- Pentium 75 or higher processor
- 16 MB RAM
- Approx. 19 MB free hard disk space
- Windows 98, Microsoft Windows NT 4 SP 6, Microsoft Windows 2000 / XP or Microsoft Windows ME
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 with Service Pack 1 or higher
- VGA or higher resolution monitor and graphics card for displaying 16-bit colors or more
Functions
In addition to the functions typical of e-book readers such as bookmarks, navigation aid, personal library and user-defined annotations, Microsoft Reader offers interactivity for dictionaries and lexicons (words can be marked and a translation or explanation can be displayed if corresponding works are installed), free pagination for the first time. The book pages are automatically adjusted when opened depending on the display screen used. In addition, the reader offers ClearType support, which significantly improves the display quality on screens. As an important function for the visually impaired, the reader has a text-to-speech output.
The versions for pocket and tablet PCs also offer the option of switching between portrait and landscape format and zooming in on images. The zoom function also predestines the reader as a display program for maps.
A software development kit for Microsoft's own lit format, which offers external developers the opportunity to develop and publish conversion programs for lit e-books, is freely available. End customers have the option of using the conversion programs offered to create their own e-books from HTML or text files. There are also conversion plug-ins for Microsoft Word word processing and the QuarkXPress layout program .
Web links
- Microsoft Reader homepage ( Memento from April 14, 2003 in the Internet Archive )
- Microsoft Reader Download (German) ( Memento from April 13, 2003 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ^ Off for Microsoft Reader ( Memento of October 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) at eBook-Fieber.de