What exactly is an e-book

Asks zeus

A. An e-book is the shorthand term for an electronic book - and this in turn is an electronic version of a traditional printed book. An e-book can be read on a normal PC or a handheld computer (roughly the same size as a paperback book) with e-book reader software. Confusingly the term e-book is also used to describe a computer that is solely used and dedicated to reading e-books - but on the whole it usually means an electronic book.

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Q. Can all e-books be read using the same reader software

A. No - it really depends on what computer you're using to read your e-book as to what reader software you'll need. The most popular readers on the market are: Microsoft Reader, Adobe e-book Reader (and Acrobat Reader) and the Gemstar e-book Reader - most e-book publishers now make their publications compatible with these three readers.

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Microsoft Reader comes as standard on Pocket PC, Palm Reader is used on most Palm, Handspring and Sony handhelds (Palm recently bought the Peanut Press, an e-book publishing house) and is usually installed as standard on it, and if you use a Psion handheld computer it usually comes with its own Psion Reader installed as standard.

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Alternative and popular readers that do not come as standard on handhelds include TomeRaider -which works with Psion, Pocket PC and Palm operating systems; and Mobipocket Reader is compatible with Palm, Psion, Windows CE and PC Desktop.

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Q. Where would I obtain free copies of e-book reader software online

A. For a free copy of Microsoft Reader (for Windows) is available from www.microsoft.com/reader - you don't need to download a free copy of this software if you have a Pocket PC as it comes as standard. For a free copy of the Adobe e-book reader go to www.adobe.com/epaper - you can download PC and Macintosh compatible versions here. A free copy of the Palm reader is available from the Peanut Press at www.peanutpress.com.

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Q. Do I have to have an e-book reader to read an e-book

A. Not always, some publishers do have their e-books available as PDF files - so you can download these onto your PC, but a reader is really worth investing in as it makes reading a novel for example on a computer a lot easier. You can bookmark pages, highlight passages, scroll down the page (or pre-set the time and your Reader will automatically scroll down for you - a great feature on the Psion Reader), make notes or save selected text. It usually has a backlit screen too, which makes reading in the dark more comfortable.

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Q. What formats do e-books come in