Chat & Beyond

ChatNet 2.0.6

ChatNet is a conference system similar to America Online's conference rooms. It offers all the features found in those conference rooms plus some others. Like AOL's People Connection, you first enter a default room (unlike AOL this room may be changed in the preferences) where you can send messages to the rest of the room. If this room is too public for you, you have your choice of creating a new public or private room. Additionally, you can send private messages (One on Ones) to anyone who's using ChatNet. Many of the abilities offered in ChatNet will be familiar to you: you can list all the people in the room, you can list the open rooms, you can log text, you can have your computer speak the conversation, you can copy and paste text and, you can change fonts and text color. I wish ChatNet allowed you to save the contents of the room with a press of Command-S, but with the Copy and Paste commands this shortcoming can be worked around. ChatNet also offers abilities not found in AOL's conference rooms. For example, you can be in multiple rooms at one time and participate in multiple conversations. Additionally, you can send invitations to members and if the invitation is accepted, they automatically enter the room that you've invited them to. ChatNet offers basic security features. The most important of which is the encryption of file transfers and message text to keep them from prying eyes on the network. There are also supervisory and stealth modes. User preferences can be made the same for every one or they can be user changeable. You can even set up a list of words to automatically mask. This demo version is limited to three users. Additional users may be added with the purchase of 10($99), 50($249) or 250($499) user licenses. Purchasers of Chat Net will also receive a printed manual, registration card, the latest version, toll-free technical support and a 30 day money back guarantee.

Requires Macintosh SE or later, LocalTalk or EtherTalk network or Internet connection, System 6.0.5 or later

Ircle v2.5

If you've been a member of an online service for any length of time, chances are that you've taken part in a live chat. The Internet's version of live chatting, the IRC (Internet Relay Chat), is now more easily accessible through this client application that lets you talk with people all over the world. After initial setup, logging onto a local server and cruising the IRC chat channels is a breeze.

Requires System 7 or later, MacTCP 2.x

NewsWatcher v2.1.3

John Norstad, Academic Computing and Network Services Description: NewsWatcher is considered the preeminent Usenet newsgroup reader by many an Internet hound. Written by John Norstad, the author of Disinfectant. NewsWatcher provides a comfortable interface for reading Usenet articles. It automatically stacks threaded articles, and allows you to easily jump to the next article, next thread or next newsgroup. Other features include Internet Config support, balloon help, quoting, signature, email response and more. Note the requirements -- you'll need a direct or SLIP/PPP connection to the Internet, and access to a mail host.

Requires System 7 or later, MacTCP, 2.5MB free RAM, Internet connection

Value-Added NewsWatcher v2.0b27

John Norstad created a superb Usenet news reader in NewsWatcher. But with the belief that the best can always be made a little better through outside help, he released the programming code to the public domain so that others could improve on his work. That's just what David Brewster and Bob Boonstra did with Value-Added NewsWatcher, popularly known as VA NewsWatcher. The two biggest features they added are significant: the ability to attach binary files to news postings (such as is done in the many .binaries newsgroups) and message filtering. While the first is useful mainly to the small group of people who post graphics and applications to newsgroups, the latter feature is sure to be of use to most Usenet fanatics. Now you, too, can ignore all those silly diatribes from a nemesis! Just filter those messages out, and they'll never bother you again. All the features of the original NewsWatcher are incorporated into this version as well, including extensive drag-and-drop support, useful configuration options, unfolding hierarchies (like those twisty triangles on folders in System 7) and more. NOTE: this is a beta version -- use with caution. Version 2.0b27 adds option to display article length and date in subject window, adds option to sort highlighted and recent articles, adds balloon help, fixes filter editing bug, and is synchronized with Norstad's changes in 2.0b25-27.

Requires System 7 or later, MacTCP, 2.5 MB free RAM, Internet connection