Starry Night Enthusiast 6.0 Win/Mac

List Price: $79.95 Discount Price: $63.91

Features:

• Includes CD-ROM software, DVD movie, astronomy book, and user's guide
• Software for exploring the night sky and an array of astronomical wonders
• Follow the paths of 25+ interplanetary probes through the solar system
• Track 830+ artificial satellites; recreate lunar and solar eclipses
• Explore 700 million light years of space; view 2,500,000 stars

Accessories:

Starry Night Pro 6

Customer Reviews:

Works Fine on a Mac! [Posted on 2008-01-11]
For those having problems with Vista, I'm truly sorry. This wonderful program has run absolutely fine, without a single hic-up, on all 3 of my (and my wife's) Macs for the last three years.

As for what it can do -- it is amazing how much detail is included; it is an essential part of our viewing. Highly recommended!

Great product, runs on Vista [Posted on 2008-01-14]
I just installed this software yesterday on a computer running Windows Vista Home Premium. I was nervous about purchasing it because of the other reviewers who stated that it does not run on Vista. Before running the software, I downloaded and installed the version 6.2 upgrade from the Starry Night website. I am also running it with Vista's User Account Control turned off. Under these conditions, the software runs beautifully! The only problem I've had is that on 2 occasions, I've received an error message requiring me to quit out of the software and re-open it. I imagine these minor bugs will get worked out with future Windows updates and patches to the Starry Night software. For now, it's a minor nuisance, but not such a problem that it detracts too much from my enjoyment of this great software.

I am posting this review in case there are others out there who are wary about purchasing this product for Vista. My installation CD (purchased from Amazon) was clearly labeled for XP/Vista, and it installed and runs fine. If your CD is labeled only for XP, there are instructions on the Starry Night support website for installing the software on a Vista machine using XP Compatibility mode. I didn't need to do that, since mine installed just fine straight from the disk.

I am an astronomy novice, but have always been interested in learning more, so I bought this software for that purpose. I have only used it for a few hours thus far, and I have already learned an enormous amount! It's amazing to be able to explore the universe, zoom in on objects, have information about each object right at my fingertips, be able to see the orbital paths of various objects, have all the constellations in the sky labeled so I can learn them easily, view the sky from anywhere on earth (or in the solar system and beyond, for that matter!). The possibilities seem as endless as the universe.

Starry Night digital download [Posted on 2008-03-20]
With so many other people reporting that this WONDERFUL software won't run under Windows Vista I actually called their Tech Support before buying it.

They assured me that if I had the latest Windows update etc. that it would run fine. It doesn't. It is the only program I have ever tried on the less than 12 month old machine which give a blue screen and then shuts down. Like in the bad old days with Windows first started.

I am sorry, I used to have this Starry Night on an XP machine and I loved it. But if you are running Windows Vista, save yourself some grief. Don't waste your money.

Rock the universe [Posted on 2008-06-05]
I bought this to use with my 8-year old son. He has mastered the space and time navigation tools and he loves zipping around as if he were piloting his own space ship.

We use it to identify things we're curious about when we go outside at night and also to know where to point our telescope (alas it doesn't point itself) when we take it out.

Great piece of software that brings families together for a change... and runs well on our iMac.

Clunky interface [Posted on 2008-10-31]
I got this program hoping that it would help me better learn the sky and help me locate deep space objects. It does that adequately, albeit through a clunky interface with non-intuitive menus and glitchy navigation. It works but it takes some working to get it to do what you want.

It has an event feature that lets you know what is going on the sky which I use. I use it to predict viewing times of planets and helping visually identify galaxies and nebula. Overall, I'm glad I have it I just wish that it had been laid out a little better for the price.

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