It has always been a point of satisfaction with us that we have not had a single bad review of any of our products or the support we give for them.  The following are un-edited excerpts from reviews and e-mails we have received from a variety of people, from beginners with the language, through some of the best Tibetan translators in the world, noted academics, and so on.

You might notice that the reviews are all a few years old.  This only means that we don't have a lot of time to spend on a testimonials page!  The only ever excellent reviews of our software and publications just keep on pouring in...

Academic Approval
The libraries at Oxford University, University of Virginia, University of California at Santa Barbara all chose our suite of software and dictionaries as the reference software for use in the libraries.  The latter two have the software running on very large networks that make the software available to all students and researchers in the Universities.  The University of California in addition has an agreement with us whereby the Illuminator and Sarat Chandra Das dictionaries are made available to every student in the Tibetan studies program.  A long list of professors at various prestigious institutions are close friends or colleagues of ours and they always recommend our products to the students in their programs; this includes people such as Prof.  David Germano at the University of Virginia, Prof.  Jose Cabezon at the University of California Santa Barbara, Prof.  Peter Schweiger at Bonn, Prof.  Tashi Klaus at the University of Austria, and many others.  Last but by no means least, Professor Jeffrey Hopkins has long used The Illuminator Tibetan-English Dictionary in his work.

“Thank you very much for your quick, helpful and generous reply.  I have experimented a little with the dictionaries and I am totally satisfied.  Particularly valuable is the feature to find words in all places where they occur, not only under the main entry.  ...  there is, of course, the great advantage of not having to carry hard copies with you when you travel.  I look forward to realize the advantages of the Illuminator Dictionary by using it.  I will definitely recommend your materials to my students and colleagues.”
       - Prof.  Dr.  Michael Hahn, one of the great Tibetan scholars of the German academic world, June 2005.

Translations and Publications Reviews
“...I neglected to say how much I value your translations, Lama Tony.  I prefer footnotes at the bottom of the page and you are excellent at that.  Your notes are very valuable.  I have not only learned a great deal from you, but your translations have clarified many points for me that I was not completely certain of.  Thank you, again and again, Lama Tony.”
    - Tom Anderson, another of our many happy readers.

Illuminator Dictionary Reviews
“I have been using the Illuminator for few years now and it has become one of my most valued study tools.  I&lsquom able to translate much faster now than before, and at same time I&lsquom learning a lot from the detailed description for each entry.  This dictionary is a must to have, both for beginners and advanced students.”
    - Trausti Sigurvinsson at his web-site, "The Tibetan Language Student”.

Illuminator Dictionary and Software Comments from Users
“Your software is wonderful and Illuminator is fantastic.  The interface is excellent and I think I&lsquoll get the hang of quick searches.  Many congratulations.”
    - Elizabeth Callahan, well-known translator and scholar with Khenpo Tsultrim Gyatso, Ponlob Rinpoche, and others.  Mar.  2003

“I&lsquove been exploring the nuances of the updates – you have created an incredible combination of software.  Thank you.  You can count on my continued support in the future.”
    - Chris Goodman, long-time user of our product suite, on receiving his first subscription update of the Illuminator Dictionary.  Mar 2003.

“Thanks for your continued quick responses to my problems.  I was able to download the dictionaries with the new links that you provided...  I am still amazed at people‘ lack of understanding about complexity of the task that you have undertaken.  I use your products to generate (mostly) short interlinear saddhana texts.  I have seen the progression in what you have done over the years.  When you take in account the number of people involved (small), the funding (even smaller), and the technical knowledge needed, one can not help but be impressed.”
    - Bill Minasian, who has been using our software from the 1980‘ when we introduced the first Tibetan word-processing program for DOS, and who knows our situation well.  April 2003.

“I had been meaning to write and tell you how much I am enjoying both the updated Das and the Illuminator dictionaries.  Formatting them so that they can be opened together on the right and left half of the screen is brilliant, and that is just how I use them ...  every morning in the office.  You were right about the Illuminator.  It is a very good dictionary, and for my needs is an excellent partner for Das.”
    - Donald La Rocca, curator at the New York Metropolitan Museum.  May 2003.

“I will certainly acknowledge the Illuminator in my book.  There will be an acknowledgement section in the author Preface.  You have a great feel for how to translate technical terms.  I know that comes from reading many similar works and seeing how the terms are used in many contexts, and also from knowing something about the use of these terms from actual practice.  In that sense, the Illuminator is not just a dictionary.”
    - Dan Brown, author of books on Tibetan buddhadharma, including on Mahamudra.  May 2003.

“I enjoy reading Illuminator.  It is (as you know) more than a dictionary and very instructive.”
    - David Brannam, Aug.  2004.

“David Curtis of Tibetan Language Institute swears by the Illuminator; so thank you for all your effort so tibetan language students, as myself, would have the proper tools to learn and translate tibetan.”
    - Kunga Joseph, a student of David Curtis at Tibetan Language Institute, USA, Oct.  2004.

“It seems these days that every time I&lsquom researching a problem of Tibetan language or grammar on the Internet, whenever I find a really useful, complete and reasoned answer, it‘ signed ‘Tony Duff&lsquo.  (This is not to mention your dictionaries, which I find invaluable.)”
    - Margaret Gouin, Oxford University, Oct.  2004.

“Recently I bought a copy of your Illuminator Dictionary and just feel compelled to write and tell you that I think it‘ truly wonderful.  I really appreciate the detailed, concise explanations that go with each word.  I&lsquom an absolute newcomer to Tibetan and I find this dictionary extremely helpful and, in its own right, very exciting.  I have very little time to wade through my book-form dictionaries because I have three young children and all that goes with them, plus Dharma studies, so I value the immediacy (and legibility) of your Illuminator.”
    - Claire Campisi, Tibetan buddhist student from Australia, Aug.  2005.

TibetDoc, Comments from Users
“Yesterday, I used TibetDoc.  Within ten minutes I was using it for both typing in Tibetan and converting from transliteration.  It‘ an excellent product.  Very easy to begin using.  ...  I am very pleased to find that your products are of such good quality.”
    - Tor Cummings, student of Tibetan buddhism, Jan.  2005.

“I couldn&lsquot wait and I&lsquove been fiddling a little with TibetDoc v4.  I find TibetDoc really an outstanding piece of software for tibetan text preservation.  It really covers my expectations.  Congratulations to you and your team for this nice work.  May the merits accumulated in creating this facility for text production, work for the liberation of all beings without exception.”
    - Antonio Martínez Ortín, professional scientist at the University of Leon in Spain and producer of practice texts for his dharma centre.  Feb, 2004.

“Dear Tony,
Firstly, gassho to your incredible effort, labour and contribution through your work.  I am now appreciating the full scope of your contribution.  It is really phenomenal.  Incredible.”
    - Peter Fenner, Ph.D.  in Buddhist Studies, Feb. 2008.