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Voyager Software

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Connection · Web Browser · Mail · Newsgroups · Telnet · FTP

Connection:

As the Voyager software comes pre-configured, all you have to do to connect to the Internet is plug your modem into your computer and 'phone socket, install the software, load it and click on the connect icon! Everything else has been done for you - the correct transfer speeds have been assessed for the computer and modem, the nearest point of presence to you will be chosen so that all your connections to the internet will only be charged at the same rate as a local telephone call, even the 'signature' that appears at the bottom of all email and newsgroup postings will have your email address on it.

However, this is not to say that you can't play around and get Voyager set up how you want it - Voyager is highly configurable, with options for each and every aspect of the software. For security you can disable the use of certain parts of the software, restrict access and on-line time, even stop access to world wide web addresses and newsgroups that might be unsuitable for children to view, and these settings can be password protected - ideal for school use. For office use, prefixes can be added to the 'phone number of your connection - so if you need to dial 9 for an outside line, or dial 132 to use a Mecury line, this is also possible without any problems. Plus all the usual style customisations, signature edits etc. are easily achieved with just a few mouse clicks.

Web Browser:

Whenever anyone mentions the Internet, most people immediately think of the World Wide Web - pages of text and graphics like the one you're reading now. Voyager comes with web browser packed full of features:

Capable of viewing graphics in 16.7 million colours
Compliant with most HTML3 and Netscape® commands so it can display pages with advanced features
Saves pages in plain text, source code (with the site it was taken from automatically inserted for reference) and !Draw format
Displays the size, amount, percentage and speed of downloading images so you can keep costs down
Allows the easy creation of a list of 'bookmarks' to the user's favourite sites
Automatically keeps a list of pages you've visited so you can jump straight back, or has the standard buttons to jump backwards and forwards one page at a time
Has an in-built FTP facility for the downloading of free software from sites around the globe
Links to the email program to send messages to people mentioned on web pages.
Large, colourful, easy-to-understand buttons to control the main features.

Mail:

Voyager's email software is simple to use, easy on the budget and yet packed with features:

You can read and write mail without being connected to the Internet to reduce the telephone bill - any mail 'sent' while off-line will be held in a directory until your next connection.
You can send software to people around the world by simply dragging files from a disk to the email window - attached files show up as an icon on a bar at the bottom of the text window, and UUE and MIME encoding is done automatically.
An address book feature allows you to store all of your frequently-used email addresses, with a name or nickname to identify it, or just by selecting a piece of mail and pressing the 'add address' button. To send mail to someone in the address book, simply type in the nickname or double-click on the address book entry.
Automatic log generation - you can keep copies of all your outgoing mail for reference purposes, and/or save it to disk either by using the 'store' feature or by the standard Risc OS drag-and-drop method.

Newsgroups:

There are currently over ten thousand newsgroups available on the Internet covering every topic from art to zoology where like minded individuals can trade tips, discuss the finer aspects of their hobbies or professions, or just gossip on a global scale! Voyager provides an off-line news reader that allows you to read, write and reply to news postings without running up the 'phone bill to much, and especially interesting articles can be saved to disk. ArgoNet also provide newsgroups exclusive to Argo users.

Telnet:

Telnet is one of the older parts of the Internet, which is accessed via a text-only window. It's here that you can gain access to interactive discussions (Internet Relay Chat) and adventure games (MUDs, or Multi-User Dungeons) where players from all over the world can join you on your quest - or try to stop you.

FTP:

FTP, which stands for File Transfer Protocol, is the best way of sending and receiving large files over the Internet. Many FTP sites act like giant Public Domain libraries holding hundreds of megabytes of free software, pictures and information, some of which will only be available on the Internet. With the Voyager FTP software downloading all of this information is as simple as copying software from one disk to another - just drag the file from the ftp window to your disk and wait for it to transfer. Depending on download speeds this can be much cheaper than sending off to a conventional PD library, and you get to pick and choose from well-organised collections around the globe. Uploading is just as simple - any files you want to send the other way can be dragged from disk to the ftp window.

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