# Microsoft Cinemania > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Microsoft_Cinemania > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Microsoft_Cinemania.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Cinemania > Source revision: 1349521319 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Film database released annually by Microsoft between 1992 and 1997}} {{Infobox software | title = Microsoft Cinemania | logo caption = | logo alt = | logo size = | collapsible = | screenshot = Microsoft_Cinemania_97_screenshot.png | screenshot size = | screenshot alt = | caption = Welcome article of a Cinemania 97 CD, alongside an index window on the left | other_names = | author = | developer = [Microsoft](/source/Microsoft) | released = {{Start date and age|1992}}{{cite magazine |last=McCullaugh |first=Jim |date=November 17, 1992 |title=Movie-Buff Guide Premieres |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EBIEAAAAMBAJ |magazine=[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine)) |location= |publisher= |volume=104 |issue=42 |page=59 |issn=0006-2510 |access-date=June 15, 2023 |via=[Google Books](/source/Google_Books)}} | ver layout = | discontinued = yes | latest release version = 97 | latest release date = {{Start date and age|1997|08}} | latest preview version = | latest preview date = | repo = | qid = | programming language = | middleware = | engine = | operating system = [Microsoft Windows](/source/Microsoft_Windows), [Classic Mac OS](/source/Classic_Mac_OS) | platform = | included with = | replaces = | replaced_by = Cinemania Online | service_name = | size = | standard = | language = English | language count = | language footnote = | genre = [Reference work](/source/Reference_work), [encyclopedia](/source/encyclopedia) | license = [Proprietary](/source/Proprietary_license) | website = {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980420073746/http://cinemania.msn.com:80/Default/Home|date=April 20, 1998|title=Cinemania Online}} | AsOf = }} '''Microsoft Cinemania''' was an interactive movie guide as part of the [Microsoft Home](/source/Microsoft_Home) series of reference and educational [multimedia application CD-ROM](/source/CD-ROM) titles produced by [Microsoft](/source/Microsoft) and published annually from 1992 up until 1997. == History == The software was available for both Windows and Macintosh. Early versions for Windows were 16-bit, Cinemania 96 had both 16-bit and 32-bit EXEs for compatibility with Windows 3.1 and native Windows 95 support respectively. The last edition of Cinemania was released in 1997 and is the only purely 32-bit version. This version was supported on [Windows 95](/source/Windows_95) or [Windows NT](/source/Windows_NT), or [Apple Macintosh](/source/Apple_Macintosh)es running [System 7](/source/System_7_(Macintosh)).{{cite press release|title=Lights! Camera! Action! Microsoft Debuts Cinemania 97, Latest Edition of Top-Selling Guide to Movies and Movie Makers|date=1996-09-17|publisher=[Microsoft](/source/Microsoft) PressPass|url=http://news.microsoft.com/1996/09/17/lights-camera-action-microsoft-debuts-cinemania-97-latest-edition-of-top-selling-guide-to-movies-and-movie-makers/|accessdate=2014-12-30}} [Melinda Gates](/source/Melinda_Gates), ex-wife of [Bill Gates](/source/Bill_Gates), worked on the development of this software in the early 1990s.{{Cite book|title=Melinda Gates : Philanthropist and Education Advocate.|last=Cathleen.|first=Small|date=2017|publisher=Cavendish Square Publishing LLC|isbn=9781502627087|location=New York, NY|oclc=1039680502}} == Content == The software was mainly a database of films, in a similar fashion to the [Internet Movie Database](/source/Internet_Movie_Database), and gave descriptions of the films and who starred in them. Most of this information was not readily accessible before broadband internet. Cinemania contained professional material by: * [Leonard Maltin](/source/Leonard_Maltin): 19,000 reviews from his ''Movie and Video Guide'' * [Roger Ebert](/source/Roger_Ebert): over 1300 reviews from his ''Video Companion'' (starting from the 2nd edition, published as Cinemania '94) * [Pauline Kael](/source/Pauline_Kael): 2500 reviews from her ''5001 Nights at the movies'' book (also starting with Cinemania '94) * [Baseline](/source/Baseline_(database)): ''The Motion Picture Guide'' and ''The Encyclopedia of Film'' * [James Monaco](/source/James_Monaco): ''How to Read a Film'' * [Ephraim Katz](/source/Ephraim_Katz): ''The Film Encyclopedia'' The program also included over 2000 [still images](/source/image) for movies and actors, a large number of sound clips, dialogues and soundtracks, and a smaller selection of full-motion [video](/source/video) clips. As the amount of material increased with each new edition, the quality of media tended to decrease, in order to fit everything on a single CD-ROM. Cinemania 97 also had guided tours from numerous celebrities and online features which made use of an associated [MSN](/source/MSN) website. It could be updated monthly over the Internet, which brought new movies, new material about older movies and new celebrity tours. ==Reception== ''[PC Magazine](/source/PC_Magazine)'' in 1993 said that ''Cinemania 1994'' was "the ultimate movie buff's guide to the cinema ... the most complete CD-ROM movie guide available".{{Cite magazine |last=Trivette |first=Donald B. |date=1993-12-07 |title=After Hours |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7k7q-wS0t00C&pg=RA1-PA584 |access-date=2025-03-22 |magazine=PC |pages=584–589}} ==References== {{reflist}} == External links == * https://www.wired.com/1994/11/cinemania-94/ * http://ew.com/article/1995/11/24/microsoft-cinemania-96/ * http://www.technofile.com/articles/cinemania.html * https://www.pcworld.pl/news/Microsoft-Cinemania-97,297664.html * [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-04-02-ca-49831-story.html Los Angeles Times] * http://adage.com/article/news/microsoft-ceases-production-cinemania-music-central/4935/ * [https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/remembering-microsoft-cinemania/ denofgeek.com] {{Microsoft}} Cinemania Category:Educational software for Windows --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Microsoft Cinemania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Cinemania) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Cinemania?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.