Because of the nature of my work, I often need to provide definitions of technical computing terms from authoritative sources. The online computing terms dictionaries simply don't carry much authority in a courtroom.
The problem is that most major printed dictionaries don't revise often enough to keep pace with the technology. For example, Oxford Dictionary made pretty big news recently when it added "tweet" to its online dictionary. But in this 2008 6th edition of the Oxford Dictionary Of Computing, "tweet" is just one of dozens of words of recent vintage that are missing. Reflecting the volatility of the industry, the dictionary defines Sun Microsystems as a major supplier of non-PC computers.
Is this a bad dictionary? No. It is simply limited because it is a walloping four or five years since its last edition. (It was published in hard-cover in 2006.) Some of the definitions are a bit loopy, but it does carry the Oxford name and is thus considered authoritative.
For the money, a good, if not particularly current, addition to my shelf of technical dictionaries. At this point, though, I think subscribing to online Oxford may be the best way to go.
Jerry