Best Personal Translation/Dictionary/Thesaurus Software?

[moerl]

My license for Babylon Pro ran out last week. I'm on the lookout for the best software in this category now. This type of software is EXTREMELY useful for just about anyone. And being that I am a college student, it is not only useful but crucial to my every day work.

I like Babylon Pro but I can't quite believe that it is the best the world has to offer in that category. The only other program of that type I know about is WordWeb, which I've never tried before. Its interface does not look as elegant as Babylon's, and Babylon offers official dictionaries like Merriam-Webster and Oxford Concise English Dictionary in electronic form, something I don't think WordWeb is doing. Anyway.. would anyone know more about this? I'd highly appreciate any suggestions.

Of course, you can always look things up at dictionary.com. But what if you're offline? And also, if you're looking stuff up on a website you first have to query that website, even if it's as easy as typing "d" in the address bar, followed by a space and then the word you're looking for - (that's the way dictionary.com is set up as a custom search in my Opera browser). Babylon also comes with its own OCR engine which allows you to search a word in it by holding a button combo on the keyboard and right-clicking any word on the screen. That makes for very fast lookups, something that no website could offer.

I think I've said enough.

[imtrobin]

If you find Wordweb bad, then it's pretty hard to find a better one. You can try TheSage

http://www.sequencep...ing.com/thesage.html

[moerl]

I never said I thought it was bad. I even said I'd never used it before . I'm quite willing to try it. Oh and I forgot to say... I'm totally willing to pay for this type of thing.

[mouser]

i think this is really 2 dif kinds of programs, translators and dictionaries.
i've never seen a program that was good at both.

i love to see dictionary and translator reviews, hint hint.

ps.
doing a big long review is probably a good way to get a free copy; certainly the reviewer would be the first inline for such a donated copy.

[moerl]

If only I had the time for that type of thing...

[m_s]

There is another thread somewhere around here, in which Mouser and I were singing the praises of Visual Thesaurus.  I still love that!  I have used the pc-based Collins English Dictionary and Thesaurus for years - it's dull but dependable.  In the UK you can sometimes pick it up real cheap, as you can a similarly dull but dependable old Oxford digital edition.

[moerl]

Did anyone here buy the desktop version of visual thesaurus? If so, could anyone post screenshots? Thanks

[m_s]

I have it, but not running on the machine I'm on right now - however, here's a link to ThinkMap's press centre, which has some images: http://www.thinkmap.com/vtpresskit/#scr

[vegas]

I agree, that does look like a tasty little app! Love to hear more from someone who uses it regularily.

[m_s]

I do.  My only reservations are that it is slanted towards US English, and it's a bit of a resource hog - but since I usually have it open while I'm doing a particular job - i.e. writing - and not the rest of the time, that doesn't bother me.  And I should say that I sometimes opne it up and look up words just to watch the cool animations!

[Carol Haynes]

Don't forget there is a free version of WordWeb - try it, see if you like it and if you do it may be worth buying the Pro version.

[moerl]

Good point CarolHaynes. I'll do that, thanks

[masu]

I also use Babylon. I want to ask is Babylon really the only software which use OCR technology to recognize words?

[moerl]

I ended up with Babylon Pro 5 as well. I've used it before and it's a very reliable and, most of all, fast tool. It's instant and very accurate. As for that question, no it's not. Merriam-Webster also has a tool that uses OCR to look up words, but it's nowhere close to as good as Babylon IMHO.

[mouser]

if you are looking for thesaurus+dictionary and not translation, def. give a look to mobysaurus (which is being hosted on our server):
http://www.www.donat...re/Other/mobysaurus/

the author is a great guy who is voraciously adding features and is always looking for suggestions, etc.

[moerl]

That looks very, very interesting. I'll take a look when I get to it. That means, not very soon. My laptop is on its way to CA for repair and I won't have it for another 2 to 3 weeks. It sucks but yeah. And I have no time to check stuff like this out while at the library.. I'm sure you'll understand.

[masu]

Thanks for the program hints

Sage and Mobysaurus are both great