The decision to abandon the product Encarta by Microsoft was deployed on the official site, where it is stated that «the traditional category of encyclopedias and reference materials has changed ... as part of Microsoft's goals to provide the most effective sources for today's consumer, we have made the decision to leave Encarta.
This has to do with the increasing use of search services such as Google or even the famous online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, which have taken part of the market that previously belonged to Encarta, according to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.
MSN Encarta will be discontinued as of October 31 this year, while the Japanese version will remain in effect until December 31. For their part, Microsoft Student and Encarta Premium software will remain on the market until June, but will have updates and maintenance for the next 3 years.
According to Microsoft, users who have paid for an Encarta Premium subscription will be refunded in money corresponding to the period between April 30 and the end of the year, although they will be able to continue accessing the site until its closure.
This marks the end of the first multimedia encyclopedia that began its history in 1993 with the Encyclopedia Britannica available on DVD and CD, one of the company's most successful products.
Source: cnexpansion