Microsoft grabbed the golden ring with this year's version of the Encarta encyclopedia. In terms of usability, multimedia drama, and sheer wealth of information, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 99 is not only a vast improvement over Encarta 98, but it also stands well ahead of its competitors in this rather closely contested market.

Microsoft acquired Collier's multimedia encyclopedia this year and has folded about 3,500 of Collier's articles into Encarta 99's text base. Because Collier's had targeted a slightly older readership than Compton's, Encarta 99, or Grolier, the acquisition should bolster Encarta 99's appeal to high-school and college students. Microsoft also added some 4,500 new articles of its own for Encarta 99 to boost its total to approximately 40,000.

More important, Microsoft has increased the encyclopedia's sidebar count from 1,000 to 2,000. Sidebars present contemporaneous accounts of and source documents related to historical articles and events. They're an invaluable resource unique to Encarta 99.

In addition to the enhancements to the program's content, Encarta 99 gets a very welcome face-lift. Leading the makeover is an article contents page, which presents at a glance all the elements related to a chosen topic. It's an incredibly comprehensive page, including a navigable outline of the article text, single-click access to multimedia elements, and lists of available sidebars, related articles, related yearbook updates, and relevant Web resources. Article text itself now appears in a clean, double-spaced layout that matches 1999 World Book Deluxe Edition's layout for on-screen readability.

Other improvements this year include a natural-language search capability, a Quick Facts section that provides handy overviews of topics such as the states and the presidents, and a new Homework Center. Along with last year's Research Organizer, Encarta 99 now includes an extensive term-paper tutorial and some valuable new lesson plans for teachers and homeschooling parents.

For an additional $30, you can purchase the Encarta Reference Suite 99--five CDs including Encarta Virtual Globe 99 and Microsoft Bookshelf 99, along with Encarta 99. You can also get the whole thing--plus 70 percent more videos and full-screen video playback--on a single DVD.