Software That Does it ALL
Copy(c)right 2000 by GM Raymond
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Here is my review of some of the most popular W95/8
Software available on the Internet today, along with links to download.
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If you need to locate and install W95 Dial Up Networking (DUN)
go HERE now.
03/07/2001 NEWS BRIEFS - WHATS HOT TODAY
Apps to make FREE U.S. Long Distance Voice calls from your PC.
Apps to run a Web Cam from your home PC.
Apps to pay your bills vi your home PC.
Turbo Launch
Tired of DOUBLE CLICKING to launch programs in W95? No longer
with this nifty launch control utility! Forget the old Start button.
Easily configured with simple drag and drop procedures, Turbo Launch
stays out of the way in the tool tray until it is needed.
http://www.savard.com/turbolaunch
ClipMate
Do you do a lot of CUT, COPY and PASTE? ClipMate is
a highly configurable clipboard history buffer and
database that remembers everything you ever cut
or copy for convenient later retrieval. This includes
text or graphics. Very configurable and suitable
for any level of user. Makes an ideal DT notepad too!
http://thornsoft.com/98_ProductOverview.htm
ATOMTIME
Set your PC clock to the atomic clock vi the Internet.
Never be fast or slow again. This is a must have!
http://www.gate.net/~vfrazee/atomtime.htm
File Manager
Without question Windows Explorer is a more
powerful file/folder management utility. However,
I find 90 percent of my daily tasks to be ordinary
moves, copies and renames, views or launches.
For these tasks nothing beats the quick simplicity
of the original Windows (version 3) File Manager.
Facts are, even Microsoft agrees with its obvious
utility and continued to make in available in the
W95 release. To make ready use of it, right click
on any clear spot on the desktop, pick New, File
and Browse the c:\windows folder for WINFILE.EXE
NOTE: Microsoft has even fixed a few bugs in the
original WINFILE and the most recent version can be
downloaded from their web site. Look for w95filup.exe
EDITORS
There are lots of Text Editor out there to chose from.
The line distinguishing text editors from word processors
is beginning to blur as text editors become more and more
powerful. I will concede that with the variety of text editors
available today, its mostly a matter of personal choice.
I like a product called UltraEdit. You can get it
HERE.
GRAPHIC VIEWERS
I recommend a viewer - editor called LView. Aside
from being able to import or acquire graphics from
any Twain compliant source, Lview has most of the
needed tools built in to make graphic manipulation
childs play. Get it at:
http://www.lview.com/
Close competition is a product called AcDc. Find it
at: http://www.acdvictoria.com/products/index.htm
RADIO and TV on the WEB
If you are interested in streaming multimedia on
the web, you will definately want to have the REAL
Audio Player Plus G2. Find it at:
http://pluszone.real.com/
STOCK MARKET
For those of you on the Internet, NetStock
is one of the simplest stock market monitors
available, and best of all its FREE. Get the
latest version at:
http://www.splitcycle.com/pages/netstock.html
E-Mail Clients
Free e-mail without the Internet, you just need
a modem and JUNO, get it at:
http://www.juno.com
In life its hard to go against simple familiarity. I find
a lot of users laboring with inadequate e-mail clients
simple because they are resistant to learning new
tools.
I have been using e-mail for over 13 years and in
that time have used everything. Rating e-mail clients
is not an easy job because there are many factors
to consider; such as power, user friendliness and
cost. Here is my list of top e-mail clients starting
with the most powerful and user friendly to those
adequate, functional and best of all, free.
Eudora Pro 4.3.2
In all my experience, Eudora has few close rivals.
Aside from having the ability to literally automate
any e-mail processes (the whole point of having
computers) Eudora offers the ability to run many
specialized operations like list servers and remote
control of your terminal vi e-mail.
If you like Eudora's GUI but don't need all the power
features, they offer a totally free Lite version.
http://www.eudora.com
The Bat
The Bat rivals Eudora in size (it can be passed around
on one 1.44 floppy disk) but lacks some of the nice power
functions, like managing a listserv. But its very solid
and amazingly powerful for its size. The Bat is a
European software product.
http://www.ritlabs.com/the_bat/
The Fox
The Fox is practically a clone of Eudora Lite with
a few minor cosmetic differences. The Fox is
Freeware, bug free and functional.
http://www.aerofox.com/fox/
Becky
Becky is the newest e-mail kid on the block. It
appears to be a strong rival to The Bat with many
powerful features. The big negative is its size (over
2megs). Becky is one of the first e-mail clients
to come from Japan.
http://rimarts.co.jp/becky.htm
Pegasus Mail
Every now and then a Yoda squirrel does stumble across
nice big juicy acorns. Such is the case with finding the
Pegasus Mail program. Packed with power features such
Filters, Encryption support, and allowing for Multiple users,
Pegasus is sure to catch the attention of all contenders.
http://www.pegasus.usa.com/
E-Mail add ons:
Encryption - Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)
The unquestioned leader in file encryption is PGP.
This utility comes in two flavors, Windows or DOS.
But even the DOS version can be utilized from
any Windows application by using the GUI Menu
interface, PGPClick (see below).
The wonder of PGP is in the use of a two key system
for encryption and decryption. One becomes your
Public key, to be literally passed around, and the
other is Private and should be known only to you.
If you want the most secure form of privacy in the
known universe, PGP is it. To factor the huge
primes used in the RSA algorithm would require
the time to burn out 10 of our sun's.
http://www.pgp.com/
GUI for PGP - PGPClick
If you use Eudora or The Bat, I recommend PGP553a
(whose plugin works directly into those client's menus).
But for any other clients or applications, I suggest using
DOS PGP263a and the companion PGPClick GUI.
PGPClick allows you full control of PGP DOS from
within the Windows environment. Its not just nice,
if you use dos pgp, its necessary!
http://www.ncinter.net/~rewilson/PGPClick/http://www.ncinter.net/~rewilson/PGPClick/
UUNet News Readers/Posters:
The Agent
This is an area with little choice. Perhaps because
of the sophistication required in power program design. When
is comes to Newsreader - Article Posters, there isn't much
room for "in between" clients. You either need something
ultra simple or very powerful and sophisticated. For those
with minimal needs, the default reader built into Netscapes
browser serves nicely. But, if you monitor and consume
dozens of newsgroups, power and utility is a must have.
The ability to automate tasks, filter and kill are among the
desired functions. In comes Agent by Forte Inc.
http://www.forteinc.com
ftp://ftp.forteinc.com/pub/agent/a32-15.exe
WEB Browsers:
Internet Explorer
Netscape
Pretty much everyone is aware of Netscape and
Explorer, so I won't bother covering those in much
in depth detail. Both are fairly sophisticated and
do the job for most power users. My personal
preference was Netscape its their Standalone
version rather than the Communicator version.
This is because I rather have choice in the use
of an e-mail client or Newsreader. My preference
between MS's Explorer and Netscape is now Explorer.
Explorer 5.0 seems to provide support for new
standards much faster than others. You can get
the latest version of IE5 off any current AOL CD.
Opera
Ok, now it's time to put the fat in the fire. The
biggest grip I have with either Netscape or
Explorer is the time it takes the application
itself to load and present itself, AS WELL AS
the speed the browser takes to load up a web
site. And I'm talking browser speed, not modem
delays.In waltzes Opera 7.22
http://www.opera.com/
What this Browser lacks in limited Java support
is more than made up in loading time and display
speed. Its FAST and FAST and FAST. Three very
good reasons to have a copy. Plus, it uses all
standard Netscape compliant plugins.
Internet Relay Chat:
Chatting on the Internet is becoming more popular
than ever and just one client already dominates choice
among users, its called mIRC. Find it at:
http://www.mirc.co.uk/
PIRCH
PIRCH is only mentioned because it offers a feature that
mIRC does not... the ability to logon to several servers
at one time. And for you users with two heads on your
shoulders, this is a must.
http://www.pirchat.com
POWWOW
I am not sure exactly what the attraction of this client
is, but it has a following that cannot be ignored. Its
main claim to fame is integration of voice and graphics
with IRC chat. My objection here is that if you want
voice telephone or video graphics on the Internet, there
are much better applications available to do it. But,
for the diehards, here is where to get Powwow:
http://www.powwow.com/
A personal favorite for DC or direct connect (peer
to peer connections over the Internet) is Bote.
Bote offers chat, popnotes, file transfers and
moon bounce voice communications. Its tiny
(under 300K) very fast, and your system resources
hardly know that its loaded. Get it:
HERE!
ICQ
Like PowWow, ICQ has an undeniable following
of hard core users. My biggest objection has to
do with privacy. This client logs you into their
server anytime you use it. This means someone
knows what time you are on line and more
importantly, what you are doing. Furthermore
this software has a built in ftp server that allows
the Mirabilis Corporation to scan your folders
in order to upgrade the software automatically
while you are online. You may be comfortable
with this, I am not. But if you are, get it at:
http://www.icq.com/
IPHONE
There are several companies making excellent
Internet telephone software products. My picks
are based on experience, performance and
features. If you want simple Internet Telephone
without video, I recommend Iphone21. Get
it at:
http://www.vocaltec.com/
you may be able to download it now at:
ftp://ftp4.vocaltec.com/pub/iphone/iphone21.exe
If Voice and Video are your thing (you must have
a video-cam on your PC), try Iphone5 at:
ftp://ftp4.vocaltec.com/pub/iphone/iphone5.exe
CUSEEME
Another possibility when considering video/voice
clients is CU. Like Iphone5, CU offers users the
ability to DC or direct connect. It also offers
access to special public-private servers called
Reflectors, where many users can participate in
Group settings.
http://www.wpine.com/
Quick Speller 1.3
There are a lot of spell checkers written specifically
for one application or another and a few that attempt
to cover them all. I am one of those poor folks who
happen to be extremely "spelling disadvantaged".
Accordingly, I have tries almost every spell checker
on earth. Quick Spell works as advertised and cover
all W95 applications. Find it here:
http://www.fornada.com
Summary:
Many of you are bargain hunters. If you consider
yourself a scrounger, what could be better than getting
all of your software for FREE? Many software authors cobble
as a hobby and generously offer their creations for free.
Here is a link to one of the largest repositories of
FREEWARE in the world:
http://www.nonags.com/
And speaking of cobbling (writing software), some
of you may be interested in a feature rich, inexpensive
Assembler created by Eric Isaacson called A86 and A386
respectively. I have used this assembler to create
everything from simple utilities to advanced programs
and found it equal to or better than Assemblers costing
ten times as much money. The author is also prompt to
provide support; a very big plus these days.
Find A86/A386 here!
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