Cheap Great Museums of the World (Software) (Windows 95, Windows 98) Price

The package comprises five CD-ROMs: three volumes devoted entirely to the Louvre and two focused on other European museums. The Louvre CD-ROMs are the most comprehensive, though each are structured differently and include different features. All boast prominent works from the collection as well as audio tours and commentary that teach about the artwork, subject, or artist; the third volume is dedicated to the Egyptian and Italian art collections alone. Also included is a history and tour of the building that allows you to see, floor by floor, which collections live where.

The remaining two CD-ROMs present less-comprehensive tours of other European museums; these are abbreviated versions of the same features offered for the Louvre program: building histories and visual tours, plus masterpieces and lesser-known works from respective collections. Again, there are audio and textual overviews by subject, work, or artist, and all programs allow you to print out works of art and zoom in to examine pieces in greater detail. One especially entertaining feature unique to these volumes: a panoramic tour of a virtual room that houses masterworks; you navigate the room with your mouse, simulating a walk through the gallery.

There are some frustrations in using the product: Many volumes differ slightly in format and organization, so navigation and key features may prove confusing as you move from program to program; some allow you to zoom in on any part of a painting, while others highlight only a corner for illustration. The search functionality in several of the volumes is imprecise; for example, in the Italian art segment of the Louvre tour, a search for the museum's most famous work and creator, the Mona Lisa by da Vinci, turns up no results. And while the selection of museums is impressive, we missed North American gems such as New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim.

Though no substitute for seeing such masterful works of art in person, Great Museums of the World is certainly a less expensive, more convenient alternative until a chance for the real thing comes along--and if it does, a great primer for first-time visitors. Art aficionados and history buffs may unwittingly spend hours exploring the virtual halls of Europe's most respected art collections. --Leah Ball