Microsoft Dogs

Microsoft Dogs is a reasonably competent guide to 250 breeds, with features ranging from the serious (the dog in art) to the fun (a paw cursor) and outright silly (a barking piano that plays Beethoven's ''Ode to Joy''). What makes this different from popular dog books? Eighty well-chosen video clips of pups in action and the Canine Consultant, a couple of doggie jokers that help you choose a breed, though no matter which criteria I entered, I kept coming up with dachshunds. One caveat: Dogs should have offered more than the single-bark sound bite for each breed — perhaps a repeating track to help you decide if you can deal with Fido yelping all night. But then again, you might just stick with the virtual-dog screensaver included here. B