Starry Night Enthusiast 5.0 Astronomy Software Win/Mac review:4 stars (shakey start but well worth the wait.) - Okay, the discs that came with the box delivered would not install. Getting a hold of Tech Support required scouting for the 416 number in Canada and leaving a voice mail message - not the best first impression. I did receive a return call about 4 hours later from Claire at Starry Night Tech Support. She said this was a known manufacturing problem affecting a small batch of product that went out, and she promised to send me a replacement set once I provided proof of purchase (a copy of Amazon's confirmation e-mail sufficed).

Now that I have the program installed, I am quite pleased. It's graphics are stunning especially compared to my old DOS version of Skyglobe.

The Local View, which I use most frequently, has options to turn on or off Daylight, Local Horizon, Local and Distant Light Pollution. Of these, the 1st 2 provide dramatic differences in the realistic view of the sky. The latter two don't really impress.

Solar System objects are selectable too - Asteroids, Comets, Meteor showers, Planets and Satellites can all be turned on or off as are their labels.

Constellation Options include Auto Identify, Boundaries, Illustrations (artsy, but superfluous in my view), Labels and Stick Figures. The last of these offers five flavours, so most of you can find constellation stick figures to suit your taste.

I found the Astronomical View a tad complex while the Asterisms were a tad over simplified compared to what I grew up with (again - Skyglobe). Also available are Oriental Moon Stations, ReyÃ#s and Zodiac.

Deep Spave Objects can be selected (and labeled). Drill deeper into space and you will see nice images of distant galaxies etc.

The printouts are also fairly nice. Don't expect a mirror image of the realistic view as displayed on the monitor. You get a nice star chart with what ever labels you selected in your Options.

A really fun feature is the "Spaceship" option if you wish to take a little cruise around the local solar system, or zip off to distant galaxies. I would like to be able to turn off the onscreen targeting window (for lack of better term or inclination to look the term up). But a nice feature none the less.

I don't use a telescope, so I can't comment on features geared towards amateur astronomers, but as a night sky enthusiast, I'm more that satisfied with Starry Night.

I had to delete the initial rating on this item because I didn't want a 1 star rating to remain in effect that was based solely on my displeasure over a non-installable set of discs. Had it worked straight out of the box, I would have given this product a 5 star rating.
Starry Night Enthusiast 5.0 Astronomy Software Win/Mac Features:
Computer software (programs)
Education (Educational)
Reference
Science (Sciences)
Secondary Education (High School)
Explore without limits 700 million light years of space
View 2,500,000 stars and 40,000+ deep-space objects
Learn how to instantly identify planets, stars, and constellations
Deepen explorations with over 70 interactive, multimedia tours
Fly around the universe using joystick-supported spaceship mode

Starry Night Enthusiast 5.0 Astronomy Software Win-Mac is the CD-ROM version. The full version can be purchased by clicking on the "CLICK HERE TO ORDER" button below for around Too Low ToUSD.