Encarta developer Microsoft
History
Background
After the successes of Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia (1989) and The New Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia (1992), Microsoft initiated Encarta, under the internal codename "Gandalf", by purchasing non-exclusive rights to the Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia, incorporating it into its first edition in 1993. Funk & Wagnalls continued to publish revised editions for several years independently of Encarta, but ceased printing in the late 1990s. Microsoft attempted to establish a partnership with Encyclopædia Britannica to create a CD-ROM version of Britannica but Britannica rejected Microsoft's offer.
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