Many times while I'm reading or writing, I used to find myself wishing
I had a dictionary, just to find out what some words mean, if I am
using the right word, if the word I am spelling has the meaning I want
or if there is a better word. Then several years ago I found the
absolute best free software ever and it has only improved with each new
version, it is WordWeb Dictionary and Thesaurus. This freeware program
will give you all kinds of information on any word in it's database.
It runs on Windows 95/98/2000/NT/Me/XP and it is only 4.7 MB to download, comes in an exe file extension format
so it is very simple and straight forward to install. Once installed it
only takes up 6.8 MB on your hard drive.
The
WordWeb website talks mostly about their
WordWeb Pro version. However the version
I am reviewing here is the free version that cane be found in their menu under
Free download. The features of the free
version include: definitions and synonyms, proper nouns, related words,
pronunciations, 140 000 root words, 115 000 synonym sets and it will
look up words in almost any program. It is a no SpyWare, no AdWare, no
viruses software, works offline and it is free for personal
non-commercial use.
It's kind of funny but until I started writing this review I didn't
know the window could be maximized to fill the screen as I have never
found the need to do so.
The interface is very simple with just 2 items in the menu options and help.
The options menu opens to a drop down menu with seven options one of which
is language. This option allows the user to utilize different settings
depending on where they are. I always use the international setting
which is the default but it also has American, Australia, Britain,
Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and Asia. It also has
settings for Synonyms and related words which are to hide the locales,
flag other locals or show all unflaged. This allows for a tremendous
amount of variation in the words it shows you when you search for a
word depending on your language settings. The options menu also allows
you to set the visual size of font you are looking at in case you can't
read small print which the default setting is small and this is quite
good enough for me and I often have to increase the size of the text on
a web page. Another option that has come in handy while doing this
review is the Stay on Top selection as it allows me to have my text
editor open to full screen and WordWeb is just a small window that is
just setting there for when I need it. Which for this review is
especially good for referencing.
The help section is reached either through the menu under help or by
pressing F1. I have never had to use the help section as far as I
remember. I do know there is a lot of help for their WordWeb Pro
version and you must work through the help topics to find the help for
the free version but it is there.
WordWeb comes in 2 versions, one resides in the system tray and when
you want to use it you just click on it or use the "Hot Key" (Ctrl +
Alt + w) to call up the program window. The other version calls up the
program window when you click on an icon. I prefer the version that
opens the program window when you click on an icon because I like to
use a third party toolbar for most of my applications and the click on an icon version
automatically places the last word you copied into your clipboard into the
WordWeb search box and if the word is spelt correctly the definition
and other stuff is setting there waiting for you to read it. With the
system tray version you have to paste the word into the search box and
click search to get the available information.
The interface is again simple but you don't really want anything fancy
or cluttered when you are concentrating on what you are writing and the
words you need. Basically you have 4 parts to the interface. The search
box, definition box, the related words with synonyms box and the
buttons. Example: When looking up the word "run" you see run in the
search box with the search button next to it and a small arrow button
next to that, if you have looked up a different word before. Next to
arrow
buttons is another button that says "X-Ref" this button is there so you
can look up the word from the search box in an online dictionary or
with a web search.
Below this button is two groups of buttons. The first group are nouns,
verbs, adjectives and adverbs. When you do a word search some of the
buttons may be available and some may not. For the word run we have
nouns and verbs showing as available. When you click on the verbs
button the definition box scrolls to the portion that pertains to the
word run as a verb and when you click on the noun button it scrolls to
the definition for the noun run. Below these buttons you see copy and
close buttons to copy the highlighted portion and to close the WordWeb
window. In the definition box I see the word "run" with the
pronunciation next to it and 16 noun with 41 verb definitions showing
each used in a sentence. Also there is a scroll bar on the side of box
indicating there is too much information to be seen but can be seen by
scrolling down. Below that in the related words box there are now 6
tabs that were not there a while ago. They are "Type of", "Types", "See
also", "Nearest", "Synonyms" and "Antonyms". Selecting each tab gives a
different set of words for your use. If you double click on a word
in the definition box that word is automatically placed in the
search box and the search is made finding the new word. Then of course
if you want to return to the previous word you can just click on the
small arrow button to go back to it or you can click on the drop down
button and see a list of the words you have been looking up and select
the one you want. In the related words box if you click on a word or
word phrase it will automatically be placed in the search box and the
results of the search will then be shown.
As a complete dictionary and thesaurus, WordWeb has a lot to offer.
Under
the "Nearest" tab you not only get the spelling of the word, but from
the
rest of the information shown you get more than just the meanings. You
get every thing you expect to get from a big thick desk top dictionary.
It
is better than any spell checker even though I would not use it as a
spell checker. However I do use it when I use my spell checker to make
sure the word the spell checker offers me is the word I want or the
best word for the moment. I also use it in conjunction with my spell
checker for when the spell checker can not find a word then I copy the
word I wrote and use WordWeb to see if it recognizes the word and if it
does then I add the word to my spell checker and if it doesn't
recognize the word it may provide a suggestion or I can look up another
word that will have the word I want in it's definition and then I can
paste that into my spell checker.
That talks about the good things or pros but what about the bad things
or cons. Here I have a problem because I can find no problems with this
program in it's current configuration other than you have to buy the
Pro version to search using wild characters. However in my opinion that
is being very picky as it is something which is easy to do without. In
the past there have been some
changes I have wanted to see but they have all been taken care of. The
only possible exception to this is the help section being mostly for
the WordWeb Pro it is a little confusing to tell which help feature is
for which version. But remember I have never had to use the help
section since the program is so very easy to use and understand. So the
help section isn't really needed.
In conclusion WordWeb is a fantastic
free program that I literally use every day many times a day just
because it is there and easy. I consider it a must have program and
recommend it to any and everyone. Thank You WordWeb for creating a
program that is what all programs want to be when they grow up.
About the Author:
DonEc is the designer, creator and owner of
Best Web Stop
(bestwebstop.dbws.info). He has been working with computers since 1974 and
been creating websites with WYSIWYG non-HTML web programs since 1992.
He is retired and provides No Cost WebSite instruction via Best Web
Stop as a service to people that want to have a totally free, no cost
presence on the web or just want to avoid learning HTML. In some cases
he has been known to build sites for a small fee if asked. However he
requires the owner of the site to learn how to create a site so they
can maintain the site themselves.
Copy and/or reproduction of this article is allowed as long as it is
not altered in any way and the section "About the author" is kept with
the article including these instructions. Article Copyright © 2005
by
DonEc.
