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LITTLESTOWN AREA COMPUTER CLUB
THIS PAGE COMPILED BY SYD KAHN

Here is what I consider to be a good starter collection of software for the Internet.
If you can recommend others please
e-mail me.

BROWSERS -E-MAIL - FTP - IRC - NEWS READER - SOFTWARE SITES

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BROWSERS

Netscape 3.01 - This is my preferred one - its an all in one program Browser. It not only has the browser, but built in E-Mail and Newsreader. Its great benefit is it has a smaller hard drive footprint and is much quicker that Microsoft.

Microsoft Internet explorer 3.0 - A good browser - but it is more of an operating system extension. It has a LOT of stuff under the hood to support active content (program that run inside Explorer)so its rather big. If you just want to "Surf the Web" I recommend Netscape. Explorer does not have a built in Mail or News client. However It has a couple of compelling benefits, its free, and is from the largest software company on the planet.

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E-MAIL

I recommend you use whatever mail client came with your particular browser. However if you are reading this from a friends computer or a Library and want to get on the E-mail band wagon you still can - all you need to have in your personal computer is a modem. A couple of outfits are offering free e-mail programs for the Internet deprived. They get paid for their trouble by advertisers. What happens is their software calls into their mail servers only and you will have to answer about a hundred questions about what you like in food, cars, movies e.t.c. Then they send you advertisements along with your mail. Not a bad deal for free e-mail. Some even have 800 numbers for access. I recommend JUNO.

No Modem? But you have access to the Web at work or a library. Check out Hotmail, RocketMail, or Mail City. Their e-mail is web based so all you have to do is be able to get on the web.

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FTP

If you want to get programs from (and to) the net you will need a FTP program. The one I recommend is WS-FTP. There are a lot of other good ones, but Ws FTP can't be beat for its user friendly and intuitive interface.

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IRC

If you get bored and can't think of what you are going to do, try IRC on line chat. PC Magazine says that at any one time there are 100,000 people on-line in IRC. The client I recommend is MIRC.

Get the Win95 version here, or here, or here.

If You have Windows 3.X - look Here, or here, or here

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News Reader

If you want an answers to a computer question, or any question for that matter, you can post it to the an USENET group. With 10's of thousands of different news groups one is got to be there specializing in what you need to know with people who have expertise in what you need to know. You can use the newsreader in Netscape - but if you want to get news messages and read them off line, and free up your phone line, I suggest Agent. Its Free and very easy to use.

Get Agent for Windows 95 here or here or here or here.

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SOFTWARE SITES

Some enterprising people have compiled software available on the net. Here are the ones I stop by if I need something or just want to see what's new.

TUCOWS - make sure you select a "mirror" site close to you. They can get quite busy and therefore slow. Here is one close to Littlestown. They have grouped software together by function and have descriptions for each. Look for software that is Recommended (5 cows).

Download.com- A commercial site run by C-net, so you'll have to look at a lot of advertising. You can even sign up and get e-mail of new programs sent to you periodically. It has just about every thing you will ever need - so it is cluttered with some pretty mediocre software. Look for software marked with PICK or POP.

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