What reference CD-ROMs are good for. Something I like to do when I have plenty of disk space and happen across the CD is put Microsoft Bookshelf on my hard drive. Dictionary.com is nice and all, but it doesn't compare to Bookshelf's nice, super-fast interface, audio pronunciations, mini encyclopedia, built-in quote database, etc. Plus, the killer is, click the little Bookshelf icon in your system tray when you have a word highlighted in any program, and it'll bring up the definition. None of it would be worth the bother if you ran it as intended, of course—i.e., from the CD-ROM. But if you have an extra 650MB on your hard drive, I recommend it. (Note: I'm using Bookshelf 2000 here, because I got it free with a computer or three. There may be a better version or better product...but I don't really care.)