I want to wish all our readers a very blessed 2007. Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you all next year!

Contributed by guest blogger John Fidel

Back in the late 90’s I used to have a website called “The Bible Software Newsletter” that provided reviews, tips and comments on several of the software programs available back then. I was looking over some of my old articles and reviews and I ran across a review of WORDsearch 5.0 that I did back in 1999. In that review I stated that WORDsearch was “the most elegant of all the STEP readers. It works the way I study. As WORDsearch literature states, the purpose is for the program to get out of the way, so we can focus on the study of scripture. I believe this goal is definitely accomplished.” In the years that followed, many developments have happened in the Bible software industry. A few years ago WordSearch merged with another program called Bible Explorer. While the two programs continue to be sold separately, they maintain significantly similar interface and publishing formats. The books from one program can be read by the other using the Cross format.

WORDsearch continues to be one of the programs I recommend to people that do not need to work extensively in the original languages. The program remains very user-friendly with and extensive list of over 1400 available resources. What is even more exciting is that the program, along with about 50 resources, is now available as a free download. This is not a demo that expires or content that only includes 2 books of the Bible, but a complete commercial program with lots of free content, including 10 Bibles. There is really no excuse for anyone interested in Bible study software not to download and use this outstanding program to assist them in their Bible studies.

Here is the website with the details: http://www.bible-explorer.com/?g=wsb

Note that there is also a special message for people that use or used to use QuickVerse. WORDsearch is offering to convert most of those QuickVerse books over to the Cross format at a discount of around 90%. This is a great deal for the many people, like myself, that have discontinued using QuickVerse due to continued program and customer service issues. If you are in that situation, you really should consider this option.

Whether you are new to Bible study software, or an experienced user, it is time to, as their website says, “Discover the riches of God’s Word”. There really is no excuse not to.

David E.C. Ford has posted a Spanish review of BibleWorks 7 to the Recursos Teológicos website. There is also an English edition of the review here.

David E. C. Ford ha escrito una reseña crítica de BibleWorks 7 en la página Recursos Teológicos. Por si no lo conocen, la lectura de su blog, titulado Mi Convivencia Teológica, resulta muy recomendable.

John Fidel has contributed a comparative overview of the three major commercial programs, i.e., Accordance, BibleWorks and Libronix. His insights are always welcome, and I’m very pleased to have him write for Bible Software Review. Enjoy!

Fellow biblioblogger Sean Boisen, of Blogos fame, will be joining Logos Bible Software as a Senior Information Architect this coming January. You can read all about it here.

Sean is the mind behind some very interesting research areas we have discussed here at BSR, with SemanticBible being his flagship project. I have always enjoyed reading his thoughts on how information technology can become a relevant part in the study of the Scriptures, and wish him all the best as he takes on this new responsibility.

Looking Through The Window At Accordance is the title of a new article authored by John Fidel. In it, he reviews some of the main issues he has found while using Accordance Bible Software under emulation on a PC. Highly recommended reading!

New stuff will be posted soon. In the meantime, have a wonderful Christmas!

David Lang has written an update on recent developments in Mac Bible software over at CMUG. Check it out if you want to know what’s happened in the Mac Bible software scene this year.

Despite Jim West’s recent condolences, I’m happy to announce that neither me or Bible Software Review are dead… yet.

I hope to be around for a while, even though I have taken some long blogging breaks over the last few months. I take these as normal circumstances in the life of busy bloggers who, believe it or not, have a real life in the real world.