I’m continuing my series of reviews for various Bible software programs. You can see the rest of the series in the Archives under the Reviews category.My plan is to review a different program each week.
The publishers of these programs were gracious enough to send me copies of their software to review on this blog.
Each review will give a rating for various categories along with an image of the software from my computer and the link to the official website where you can see a demo and order the program.
This review is for WORDsearch 10
I tested the program out on my PC using Windows XP.
The ratings are on a scale of 1 to 5.
1 is poor. 3 is average. 5 is excellent.
Here’s how I rated WORDsearch 10.
Design: 5
Loading Speed: 2
Speed After Program is Loaded: 5
Search Features: 4
Copy & Paste Functionality (from the program to Word): 5
Quality & Quantity of Free Bibles & Books: 4
Quality & Quantity of Available Books & Bibles to Purchase: 5
Availability in Electronic Formats (iPad, iPhone, Mac, PC, etc.): 2
WORDsearch 10 Thomas Chain Reference Bible Library Price: $49.95
WORDsearch 9 Preaching Library Price: $499.95
Website: https://www.wordsearchbible.com
Comment: I like the design of this program. It’s clean and the buttons are easy to spot. The add-ons are great, but you have to pay for them. Yet they’re reasonable in price. The Preaching Library comes with all the bells and whistles: 22 Bibles, 226 Reference Works, 32,000 illustrations, quotes, and anecdotes, etc. A nifty program indeed.
Do you use WORDsearch? If so, feel free to add your thoughts.
I managed to convince my husband to invest in WordSearch after hearing a promo at a ministry conference. The main reason I wanted it was that I could purchase ALL of Bakers NT Commentary as an add on to the software. We got the whole library for a fraction of the cost of each book in hardcover. It is worth it just for that, as far as I’m concerned!
I have used Bible software since the early 90s. I started out with Quick Verse 2(?). I tried some others, but liked Quick Verse the best because of the Indexes, Notes, and the ability to send text to Word documents. I kept Qiuick Verse 4 for a long time because of all the features it had, I tried the new STEP version of Quick Verse (5+) and did not like it as well so I stayed with Quick Verse 4 until I went to Windows 7. I found that the 16 bit software would no longer work unless I used windows XP. Finally in 2011, out of necessity, I started to search for new Bible software thinking that I would have to settle for something less than what I was using. I did a comparison of all the Bible software out there, first the free versions, then the low priced ones (not interested in too much commentary just the Bible). When I found Bible Explorer I saw that there was finally new Bible software out there that had everything I had before and more that I was missing. I have a copy of all the Bible software programs that are’nt prohibitavly expensive. WordSearch 10 is the Very Best. I especially like the hyper links to Bible texts, and the ability to highlight, not only the verse, but any word and change colors in the same verse. Cross reference (Treasury of Scripture Knowledge), Notes, Word Pad, and Verse List are essential study tools. There were a few bugs at the beginning, but their engineers are on top of it and fixed every one that was a problem for me.
WordSearch 10 is hands down the Very Best for studying the Bible.
I have used WordSearch 5.W.2 for many years and love it. I have investigated the newer versions and other brands but still prefer what I have. I wish it was still available.
This (WORDsearch Bible) is THE place to get THE COMPLETE BIBLICAL LIBRARY by Thoralf Gilbrant and now I have also added The Preacher’s Outline Sermon Bible, The Biblical Illustrator, The Pulpit Commentary, and the 38 vol. set of the Early Church Fathers. Next for me is the 10 vol. Kittel. I find everything I ever wanted and it’s all inside my laptop wherever I might be.
I have been using WordSearch for several years and found it to be an slightly above average when compared to other programs. I do find that they lag behind in development when it comes to some of the advances in technology, for example there is not an Android app available yet, but all-in-all I like what they have to offer in resources that can not be found in other programs. I still recommend this program to others frequently as one that should be used to adjunct your resources for study in association with other programs that are available.
I have tried many of the free programs in the past, and in doing so I stumbled upon one called Bible Explorer. It did not have much, yet I liked the set up. My wife then found me the CD’s on clearance at our local bible bookstore for under $10.00. WORDSEARCH works directly with this software, so when I purchased it at $30.00, I ended up with just about the same number of bibles, books, and commentaries as the preaching version for a total of $40.00 instead of $400.00. I love using it and would not want to use anything else.
I have had wordsearch loaded for several years and have never bought any of the books to expand it as I always used an older version of Quickverse, which had an extensive library.
When I switched to Windows 7 the QV developed a glitch that made it unusable so I started looking at other options. Within the Wordsearch program is a search for step books, which not only loaded up all of the QV library but downloaded the latest edition of each of them. Since then I have found a fix for QV and now even it works better because all the books are now on the hard drive instead of on CDs. The slow load time initially is because it links back to check for updates before loading.
Hi Frank,
Are you planning to report on any of the online (ie web-based) software?
I’m just doing software programs and will be through soon. People can test out the free online programs on their own since they’re readily available.