BE and BN are essentially the same product, and both are similar to WS in many aspects, but are definitely inferior in
many others. Because of this, I found it a bit difficult to write the review. In some places I wasn't sure if I should
just write as if I was unaware of WORDSearch's existence, or if I should just point out the differences between the two.
In the end I felt I needed to do the full review for the sake of fairness. However, please note that in some places where
functionality is identical to WORDSearch, I often copied the text from the WS review, making just the minor changes
necessary to make it accurate for BE.
One small and irritating thing in the BE interface is that the verse you select is denoted by a "pointing hand" icon in
the left margin. So if you are viewing your verse in paragraph mode, where a verse might start in the middle of a paragraph,
it's not always clear which verse is currently the context-aware verse. The highlight used by WS is much more intuitive
for this tiny, but important piece of interface aesthetics.
One very useful study tool in Bible Explorer is the Cross References button. Cross references basically show you every
single place in your entire collection where the verse in question is referenced, whether or not the passage is actually
linked to that verse itself. In other words, if you are on John 13:1, hitting the cross references will show you any
commentary that has an entry describing John 13:1, but it will also show you all commentary entries for other verses that
have a reference to John 13:1 in that text. The cross references show up in a small window that opens up in the same window
pane as the Bible text, though there is a button which will open the cross references in a stand-alone window. This is
different than WORDSearch 8's more feature-rich XRef tool, which opens in it's own window automatically. The cross reference
feature is one of the most useful Bible-study tools I have found, and only Bible Explorer, WORDSearch, and SwordSearcher have it.
