SOFTWARE

By ANITA HAMILTON AND DANIEL EISENBERG

LEARNING

winner Encarta 97 Deluxe Encyclopedia

With 31,000 entries, hundreds of photos, and sound and video clips, Encarta 97 Deluxe Edition is the ultimate home reference title. If you know what you're looking for, the easy search form takes you to the right place fast. If you're just browsing, you can look for information by sifting through categories such as jazz greats, 20th century thinkers or world culture. The media gallery treats you to snippets of everything from a Beethoven concerto to the Bangladeshi national anthem, along with videos of a Kennedy speech on the Cuban missile crisis and Chilean poet Pablo Neruda reciting his verse. ($79.95; Microsoft; 800-426-9400)

the buzz CAROL ELLISON, HomePC: "Encarta makes the best use of multimedia with sound and video that make its information lively and more meaningful for children who are just beginning to explore new worlds of knowledge."

runners-up

Family Music Center Budding Mozarts can get a head start with this full-size keyboard accompanied by piano and music-editing software. ($299.95; Midisoft; 800-776-6434)

Peterson Multimedia Guides: North American Birds Learn the low hum of the blue grouse or the squawk of the American black duck with this unique and comprehensive guide. ($69.95; Houghton Mifflin Interactive; 800-829-7962)

INTERNET

winner Microsoft Network

Microsoft's initial stab at an online service last fall met with mostly mixed reviews from critics and consumers alike. This year it's back with a smart Web-based service that mixes the highest technology on the Internet with well-thought-out content. The result is a service that, even with a 28.8-kbps modem, looks well worth paying for. This fall the network offers over 20 "shows" that include Michael Kinsley's Slate magazine, an online auto-shopping service and a terrific electronic travel agent. (Microsoft; 800-373-3676)

the buzz ROBERT SEIDMAN, NetGuide: "MSN uses the television metaphor to organize its service, where everything's a channel or a program. It makes MSN extremely easy to navigate and lets the service take advantage of new technologies like Java and ActiveX."

runners-up

Internet Made Easy Still unplugged? This program helps you decide which online service is best for you and painlessly gets you on the Web with one of the two leading browsers, Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer, and a national Internet service provider of your choice. ($39.95; US Online; 206-867-5103)

Internet FastFind Experienced Net surfers can turn to Internet FastFind for more efficient searches by querying multiple search engines at once. FastFind also advises net surfers when their favorite sites are updated. ($49.95; Symantec; 800-441-7234)

COFFEE TABLE

winner Microsoft Cinemania

Dim the lights and pass the popcorn. Cinemania offers a glimpse of thousands of movies and actors in the history of film. Celebrity tours provide an inside look at black-and-white film and memorable leading ladies. Dialogue clips from Breakfast at Tiffany's and film shorts from The Graduate, Jaws and Silence of the Lambs elevate the disc above the genre of dry reference titles. When it comes time to make that all important video- store selection, the program lets you play roulette for a random suggestion or search by category. Expert reviews and online updates round out this first-rate offering. ($34.95; Microsoft; 800-426-9400)

the buzz KURT CARLSON, Family PC: "Cinemania is 10 times better than a printed movie guide because you can search by any criteria--category, movie, director, actor, etc. Its online hooks are great for getting information on a new movie that came out last week."

runners-up

FDR This nearly cinematic biography of the nation's longest-serving President offers a compelling look at the man and his time. The elegant design includes virtual tours of F.D.R.'s home. ($40; Corbis; 800-246-2065)

Leonardo da Vinci The natural mysteries that fascinated Leonardo--from why the sky is blue to why the moon shines--serve as the framework for this wonderful scientific biography. ($35; Corbis; 800-246-2065)

GAMING

winner Civilization II

Armchair Caesars have been spending the fall creating and crushing the virtual empires of this wonderful "artificial world" CD-ROM. The game--if that's the right word--puts players at the helm of a budding society, just crawling out of hunt-and-gather mode. Building your tribe into an empire proves to be a pretty addictive sensation, though it takes a mix of smart planning and tactical warfare to win the game. ($50; Spectrum Holobyte/Microprose; 800-695-4263)

the buzz GEORGE JONES, CNET Gamecenter: "Civilization II has extremely addicting game play. It's so open-ended, you can either fight wars or research and develop technology. After all these action games that are so popular, it's a refreshing change of pace."

runners-up

Quake The ultimate release after a rough day at work, Quake makes other action games look like kid's play. Your primal battle: obliterate gruesome monsters infesting a surreal dungeon. It's not what you bought the PC for, but it's what you'll be doing anyway. ($45; Id Software; 800-434-2637)

The Neverhood Forget fancy computer graphics. Gumby-like clay figures star in this adventure puzzle, which combines intricate passageways, a deep mystery and plenty of monsters that look like something your kid sketched in art class. ($54.95; Dreamworks Interactive; 800-426-9400)

PRODUCTIVITY

winner Quicken Financial Suite

If you vowed to make 1997 the year you'd get your finances in order, Quicken Financial Suite may be the best help you can get. In addition to Quicken's now famous software for managing your personal finances, the suite includes Intuit's Financial Planner and Family Lawyer (yes, there really is such a thing) software as well. A new, easier-to-understand user interface makes the program simple to learn and easy to update. And, like most new software, Financial Suite includes hotlinks to related sites on the World Wide Web that let you keep track of mutual-fund and stock-market news. ($74.95; Intuit; 800-816-8025)

the buzz RON WHITE, PC Computing: "Quicken is the program for taking care of family finances. You can balance your checkbook, pick out and track mutual funds, calculate your net worth and then use Family Lawyer to figure out how you can avoid inheritance taxes."

runners-up

TripMaker and StreetFinder 1997 These two programs let you plan your way across country or around town, with detailed, easy-to-follow interactive maps that you can print out and take with you. ($39 and $49; Rand McNally; 800-671-5006)

Microsoft Bookshelf This handy reference guide puts a dictionary, thesaurus, almanac, atlas, quotation book and Internet directory a mere mouse click away. ($54.95; Microsoft; 800-426-9400)

KIDS

winner Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland

Interactive adventures don't get much better than Dreamworks' scary new title, Goosebumps, based on the book series by R.L. Stine. Kids nine and up can explore a haunted village and solve clues as they try to find a way out. Video clips of the cd-rom's main character, Lizzy, and her friends add a realistic touch to the adventure, while visits to haunts like the Full Moon Cafe--with its menu of scrambled brains and blood pudding--add to the eeriness. The game mixes parent-stumping logic puzzles with a rich landscape that kids will find endlessly intriguing. ($44.95; Dreamworks Interactive; 800-426-9400)

the buzz CAROLINE JONES, Computer Life: "Goosebumps is amazing. It has incredible 3-D graphics that are comparable to those you see in adult games, like the haunted-house scene where you can go right up to the door and open things up inside. It also has arcade games."

runners-up

Muppet Treasure Island This amusing scavenger hunt mixes live video with those memorably saccharine characters kids love. ($39.95; Activision; 800-477-3650)

Pajama Sam The name here says it all: cute and spunky, Sam urges kids of all ages to join him on a fantastic journey to capture the darkness lurking inside his closet. ($39.95; Humongous; 800-499-8386)