eBook Formats
eBooks are your favorite books in an electronic form that you can download to your computer, laptop, or portable eBook device. You can carry an entire library of eBooks with you anywhere.

There are basically three ways to read eBooks:
  • on a desktop or laptop computer with a software reading application;

  • on a handheld Palm or PocketPC device with a software reading application;

  • and on a dedicated handheld reading device with integrated hardware and software.
Each of these ways has more than one file format or reading application option and each has different methods of encryption for the protection of copyrighted material.

At this time we offer ebooks in the Microsoft Reader format.

Microsoft Reader
The Microsoft Reader® is free software.



Overview:
Microsoft Reader is a versatile format that can be read on a standard (Windows) desktop PC or laptop and on handheld devices like PocketPCs. Microsoft Reader uses ClearType technology which is designed to increase the clarity of type on color LCD screens. For this reason, Microsoft Reader eBooks will look better on laptops than on desktop PCs using a standard monitor.


Devices:
Windows PC,  your Windows based desktop or laptop PC can be used as long as you have Windows 95 or above as your operating system.

PocketPC,  your handheld device, can be used as long as the operating system is 3.0 or above.
***IMPORTANT***

Current PocketPCs cannot read highly encrypted Microsoft Reader files. Microsoft is working on a way for future Pocket PCs to handle these files. So, current PocketPC users will only be able to read lower level encrypted eBooks. To avoid confusion, we have marked all of our Microsoft Reader titles that cannot be read on PocketPC as "MS Reader (Desktop Only)".
The PocketPC supports ClearType technology which improves readability. Read this for more information about ClearType technology.

Encryption:
MS Reader offers publishers the opportunity to encrypt their eBook files so that they can't be illegally copied and given away for free. Some publishers use encryption, some don't. There are different levels of encryption, but only level 5 encrypted titles are limited to two devices. As noted above, we have designated these titles as "MS Reader (Desktop Only)". For more information about Microsoft Reader encryption, read this .


PDF

The Adobe Acrobat® Reader is free, and freely distributable, software that lets you view and print Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files.


Overview:
Adobe's PDF (abbreviated on our site as "PDF") is a well-known and popular format for reading documents on your computer screen. PDF is easy to read and print and is an ideal format for documents on the web or for reading on your desktop computer. The software to read PDF files is Adobe Acrobat Reader and is available free for Windows, Mac and Unix computers. The biggest drawback of PDF is its inability to re-flow text for different size devices (although there have been rumors that Adobe is working on a re-flowable version of PDF).

Devices:
Windows/Mac/Unix PCC,  Currently you're limited to using your desktop or laptop PC to read PDF titles. The good news is that software exists for a variety of operating systems and is free. If you don't need the portability of a handheld device, PDF may be the format for you.



Encryption:
There are many forms of encryption available for PDF files. Most of the encryption schemes limit the use of the file to one device (computer) so that files cannot be copied and sent to other consumers. Adobe has a built-in feature of Acrobat Reader called Web Buy (you need Acrobat Reader version 4.05 or higher).