Software

The web has an incredible amount of software available some freeware(no cost) some shareware( you have a free trial use, usually with a time limitation and then if you like it your supposed to buy it) and some limited versions that only include a few of the options or tools for free but for a charge can be upgraded to full use. In this area I'll try and address some of the available software, having tried much of it, I'll relay my experience and provide hyperlinks to the places where it's available.

BROWSERS /PLUGINS/ TEXT EDITORS /GRAPHICS EDITORS
SCREENSAVERS/ WEB AIDS /UTILITIES

Browsers; there are more than two available

Netscape Communicator 4.5 available along with the lesser

forms of Navigator atNetscape

Opera

I recently downloaded Opera, a browser from Norway and have been impressed by its speed and dependability. This is not freeware as most browsers are but is available for a 30 day trial. I'm very impressed but will have more to say after I've used it for a month. I also like its light demands on my disc space, it uses 1.2 Megabytes. You can download Opera. Well I've used Opera for 4 months now and love it. It has limitations, it doesn't support Java but is wonderful. A new 3.6 version is available and is even better than the 3.5 I have two registered copies one on each of my computers and it's by far my favorite. I have been using Opera for a year and a half and the 4.0 version has just come out and you can get a java version. The Java is from Sun and a first class module. By far the best browser.

Mosiac

Mosiac is a lightning fast browser from NCSA that I use for research work it has a downside in that it doesn't support frames. If you do reseach and spend a lot of time on the web collecting data Mosiac could be very helpful it also use only 2 1/2 Megabytes of disc space. Mosiac is available

HERE

Neoplanet

Neoplanet is a fun Browser, small 1.9 megabytes but needs Microsoft Explorer to work as it shares some of the files. It has a unique character in being a Browser with a large choice of face designs so you can easily change the face and color . They offer seasonal faces as well If you get tired of looking at the same old browser than Neoplanet could be for you. Get it HERE

Plugins

ANIMATIONS

Anima FlexRubberflex plugin. This plugin allows you to
view some animation formats.

Flash Player, Shockwave- this is a very popular plugin and
necessary to view the animated nature of many sites.

AUDIO

Apple Quicktime this format is used for video and
audio in many programs and is very helpfull to have.

Crescendo this is an excellent audio player and one used by
many sites. I use this one as well as others

VIDEO

Real Player this is a good video player that I use and is
necessary to view some video clips.

UTILITIES

Adobe Acrobat this is a very valuable utility that allows you to view, navigate and print Portable Document Format (PDL). The format is heavily used on the web for long documents and this program is a must have.

 

Get Right from Headlights Software is a valuable tool that I use a lot it has a download manager that allows you to pause downloading and restart at a later time or will allow you to restart if the connection is broken but you dont have to load what you alredy recieved it begins where you left off. It also will hang up the phone and shut down your computer when it is done.

Winzip a decompression utility a must if you're going to download

programs from the web.