I HAVE REVISED THIS REVIEW IN LIGHT OF THE RESPONSE (SEE ABOVE) FROM KIRT WILLIS, AN EMPLOYEE OF THE PUBLISHER(...)
I have been a user of PC Study Bible since version 2 in 1998. the new interface in v4 alleviates most of the problems from previous versions which showed their DOS/early Windows roots. The incremental releases, up to the current v4.3 have also added some additional functionality that is much appreciated.
In addition, my experience with Biblesoft's customer support has been extremely positive. They are prompt to answer and always answer thoroughly.
What bothers me is that when I bought my original version back in '98 I was pretty green with knowledge of various Bible study tools (commentaries, lexicons, etc). I have since discovered that over half of the resources that Biblesoft included in this "Complete Reference Library" set are public domain and can be found for free on the web or in other programs. Even the "Bonus CD" has a large percentage of public domain resources.
I still own PCSB and use it when needed. However, I have discovered e-Sword, a free Bible study program with many free resources available for it, many of which you would have to pay for with PCSB. While perhaps not as flexible, it has suited my studies just fine. Plus, there is a very active online community of e-Sword users (primarily on Yahoo Groups) that have made many other resources available for free as well offering help when needed. There are also some free, third party tools available for creating your own resources in e-Sword, similar to the "Authoring System" in PCSB.
Biblesoft, like most commercial bible study software publishers, seems to be built on a business model of selling you their base "package" products and then charging extra for add-ons, which are the things you really want. But it has been my experience that other companies such as Logos and WordSearch include fewer public domain resources in their base package offerings than Biblesoft does. Why pay over $250 for mostly public domain materials?
PCSB is great as a general study tool and the authoring system is nice (though not as good as the one in Bible Explorer.) While PC Study Bible does offer some things that you can't get for free (online or with e-Sword, etc.) there are other commercially available products that I think are better and more powerful, especially if you are planning to get into original language studies. I'd personally recommend the Logos Bible Study Software as a good choice.
Product Description
PC Study Bible Version 4 from BIBLESOFT includes 41 Bibles!It gives you the tools you need to explore the heart and depths of every Bible passage -multiple Bible translations and concordances, an entire library of unparalleled reference works, full-color maps and photos, personal study and authoring tools, online resources and free downloads, an easy-to-use interface, and so much more!
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