Toolkit

Adware is known by many names--spyware, trackware, or even Big Brotherware. While producers of adware claim its purpose is merely to collect information about Internet habits in order to deliver ads tailored to a surfer's interests, privacy advocates are concerned about the potential misuse of this data. Ad-aware identifies and removes these surreptitiously installed applications. Using updateable "reflists," which are sort of like antivirus DAT files, Ad-aware scours your system--including Registry and temporary Internet files--and looks for traces of recognized adware modules.

Licence: Freeware.
Online: http://www.lavasoft.de/
Operating system: Windows 95/98/Me, Windows NT/2000, Windows XP
Requires:

Install instructions

		Windows

The quintessential Adobe Acrobat reader is required to read PDF files. PDF files are a compact method of distributing publishable content in its original form, and you will find them used extensively for publications ranging from technical documents to press releases.

Licence: Freeware.
Online: http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/
Operating system: Windows 95/98/Me, Windows NT/2000, Mac OS, Linux.
Requires: PowerPC, Mac OS 8.6, 24MB free hard disk space.

Install instructions

Mac OS		Windows		Linux

Now distributed as part of StuffIt Lite, this free utility will decompress or decode just about any type of file including StuffIt, Compact Pro, RAR, BinHex, MacBinary, MIME Tar, GZip and Zip files. It includes shareware apps that let you create StuffIt, Zip and Tar archives.

Licence: StuffIt Expander is freeware; DropStuff, DropZip and DropTar are shareware.
Online: http://www.aladdinsys.com/
Operating system: Mac OS.
Requires: Mac OS 8.1, 16MB free hard disk space.

Install instructions

		Mac OS

This is the ultimate IRC client. It has none of that fancy GUI stuff, just a full-featured, full-colour, ANSI-based, text-mode IRC client used by hardcore geeks everywhere. Don't let its seemingly simple console nature fool you, this is a very powerful and configurable IRC client that puts every other IRC client on any other platform to shame.

Licence: GPL.
Online: http://www.bitchx.com/
Operating system: Linux.
Requires:

Install instructions

		Linux

A tool for downloading files from the Internet, this utility can accommodate both HTTP and FTP with a powerful and user-friendly interface. It supports reconnecting and resuming on connection timeouts, has a download queue for multiple files and support for simultaneous downloads. It is one of the most popular download managers for Linux.

Licence: GPL.
Online: http://www.krasu.ru/soft/chuchelo/
Operating system: Linux.
Requires: GTK+.

Install instructions

		Linux

Its wealth of features make this a well-renowned program. Some of its features include: multiple address book formatting options; the ability to filter, redirect and forward mail; background mail checking and sending; the ability to import existing settings, email and address books; and a plug-in that allows voice message exchanges. You can pay the registration fee, put up with adverts, or switch to "Lite" mode which is free, but has less features.

Licence: Shareware.
Online: http://www.eudora.com/
Operating system: Windows 95/98/Me, Windows NT/2000, Mac OS.
Requires: Mac users: PowerPC, Mac OS 8.1.

Install instructions

Windows				Mac OS

Starting life as a way of accessing the contextual menu by holding down the mouse button instead of pressing the control key, this utility has grown. Our favourite features are the hierarchical Apple menu and the Contents contextual menu item that gives a hierarchical pop-up view of what's inside a folder. Be sure to read the manual because it has lots of other tricks.

Licence: Freeware.
Online: http://www.finderpop.com/
Operating system: Mac OS.
Requires: PowerPC, Mac OS 8.

Install instructions

		Mac OS

This is an easy-to-use and fast download manager that allows you to queue downloads, regain broken transfers and accelerate downloads by using multi-part transfers. Best of all it's freeware, so no annoying ads or limited functionality.

Licence: Freeware.
Online: http://www.freshdevices.com/
Operating system: Windows 95/98/Me, Windows NT/2000, Windows XP.
Requires:

Install instructions

		Windows

With a highly configurable, good-looking system status interface, this program can report on a multitude of system statistics in real-time. More like a collection of plug-in modules, it also supports a range of skins to make keeping an eye on the state of your system nice to look at as it blends in with your desktop theme. All hardcore geeks run it.

Licence: GPL.
Online: http://web.wt.net/~billw/gkrellm/gkrellm.html
Operating system: Linux.
Requires:

Install instructions

		Linux

Import graphics in well over a hundred different formats, and export to several dozen common formats, all with this one product. Batch mode facilitates the conversion of multiple images. It also provides a good set of image manipulation tools, so you may not need an expensive commercial graphics program.

Licence: Shareware.
Online: http://www.lemkesoft.de/us_gcabout.html
Operating system: Mac OS, Mac OS X.
Requires: PowerPC, System 7.

Install instructions

Mac OS				Mac OS X

The original and the best, ICQ started the online personal paging we now take for granted. Over the years, ICQ has developed and matured into a full-featured, cross-platform messaging and contact service that connects millions of people worldwide. Just about every user on the Internet now has two forms of online contact: their email address and their ICQ number.

Licence: Freeware.
Online: http://www.icq.com/
Operating system: Windows 95/98/Me, Windows NT/2000.
Requires:

Install instructions

		Windows

A superb ICQ client for Linux, this tool offers all the same features (as well as a few different ones) as its Windows counterpart. It will have you up and running chatting to your ICQ buddies in no time.

Licence: GPL.
Online: http://www.licq.org/
Operating system: Linux.
Requires: QT.

Install instructions

		Linux

With this top-class personal information manager, you can store your contacts, calendars, to-do lists and notes. A very useful feature lets you "clip" one piece of information to another, such as a contact and an appointment. Dial a phone number or send an email at the click of a button. You don't need a Palm, but your desktop and handheld databases can be synchronised if you do use one.

Licence: Freeware.
Online: http://www.palm.com/support/macintosh/mac_desktop.html
Operating system: Mac OS.
Requires: Mac OS 9.x or Mac OS X, 12 MB of available memory, 25MB hard disk space.

Install instructions

		Mac OS

Make the most of your video and monitor setup with this superb tool. It allows you to configure a variety of video and colour resolutions, define new monitor files, force refresh rates for your desktop and in games (DirectX and OpenGL), overclock your video card, and provide in-depth information about your video subsystem. No computer should be without it!

Licence: Shareware.
Online: http://www.entechtaiwan.com/
Operating system: Windows 95/98/Me, Windows NT/2000, Windows XP.
Requires: 3D accelerator.

Install instructions

		Windows

This is a multi-threaded download accelerator for Linux which supports both HTTP and FTP protocols. It makes multiple connections to the server and downloads the file in portions, thus giving a much better transfer rate for cable users. Download resume and FTPSearch features are also supported.

Licence: GPL.
Online: http://prozilla.delrom.ro/
Operating system: Linux.
Requires:

Install instructions

Linux (Redhat)				Linux (Mandrake)

The free RealOne Player includes a media player, music jukebox, and a built-in media browser to play a wide variety of streaming media formats on the Web. The free RealOne Player does not include access to RealOne channels or programming, premium player features, or RealOne member services.

Licence: Freeware.
Online: http://www.real.com/
Operating system: Windows 98/Me, Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 4 or later/2000, Windows XP
Requires: Pentium II 233MHz, 64Mb RAM,

Install instructions

		Windows

Make sure you always have the most recent reference file for Ad-aware installed on your system. RefUpdate is a free add-on for Lavasoft's Ad-aware that automatically downloads and installs the latest adware definitions on your system. If no reference file can be located, the most recent file will always be downloaded and installed. Note: You need to have Ad-aware installed on your system before you can use this free add-on.

Licence: Freeware.
Online: http://www.lavasoft.de/
Operating system: Windows 95/98/Me, Windows NT/2000, Windows XP
Requires: Ad-aware

Install instructions

		Windows

A comprehensive system information and benchmarking tool combined, you can use this program to analyse your system to find performance bottlenecks, or simply as a way to peer into every aspect of your computer. Easily one of the most popular system information tools currently available.

Licence: Shareware.
Online: http://www.sisoftware.demon.co.uk/sandra/
Operating system: Windows 95/98/Me, Windows NT/2000.
Requires:

Install instructions

		Windows

This freeware IRC client offers several features, including IRCD 2.7-2.10 compliance, one-click operation for many features, notify and ignore lists, colours and sounds.

Licence: Freeware.
Online: http://www.smircle.de/
Operating system: Mac OS.
Requires: PowerPC, System 7.1, 1.5MB hard disk space, OpenTransport.

Install instructions

		Mac OS

A handy troubleshooting utility, this program completely clears parameter RAM (PRAM) or deletes the desktop files so the Finder creates a completely new database. The system analyser feature for checking the integrity of the System and Finder files only works as far as Mac OS 9.0.4 (International) or 9.1 (US). It also lets you inspect and edit a file's type and creator codes.

Licence: Freeware.
Online: http://www.micromat.com/
Operating system: Mac OS.
Requires: Not stated.

Install instructions

		Mac OS

When SimpleText isn't enough and a full-blown word processor is too much, this product is just right. It's great for reading large text files (SimpleText can only handle 32Kbit), hand-crafting HTML, or preparing SimpleText-compatible text files with embedded graphics. A variety of extra features have been implemented by users through AppleScript- check the Web site shown in the "Welcome to Tex-Edit!" document.

Licence: Shareware.
Online: http://www.nearside.com/trans-tex/
Operating system: Mac OS.
Requires: Not stated.

Install instructions

		Mac OS

This is a single floppy disk rescue and recovery solution. This handy tool is useful whenever you can't access the hard drive and contains about 100 rescue tools to help you get a system back on its feet.

Licence: GPL.
Online: http://www.toms.net/rb/
Operating system: Linux.
Requires:

Install instructions

		Linux

A superb, brilliantly designed and easy-to-use complete browser-based system management package, this utility allows you to configure and manage just about every single aspect of a Linux system - all through the ease of use of a browser. This means you can manage your machine locally or remotely from a browser anywhere in the world. Highly recommended!

Licence: GPL.
Online: http://www.webmin.com/webmin/
Operating system: Linux.
Requires:

Install instructions

		Linux

What machine would be complete without a powerful, fast, high-quality MP3 player? Just as WinZip is the undisputed king of Windows-based Zip utilities, the same is true for Winamp and MP3 players. With hundreds of skins, plug-ins, visualisation and sound tools this is far more than an MP3 player - it's your musical interface to the Web.

Licence: Freeware.
Online: http://www.winamp.com/
Operating system: Windows 95/98/Me, Windows NT/2000.
Requires:

Install instructions

		Windows

Regardless of what you believe is the best technology for streaming audio and video, some Web sites use exclusively Windows Media, so why not be pragmatic and install the player? The Mac implementation might not have all the bells and whistles of the Windows version, but it is a useful addition to your online toolkit.

Licence: Freeware.
Online: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/mediaplayer/mediaplayer_default.asp
Operating system: Mac OS, Mac OS X.
Requires: PowerPC 603e/180, Mac OS 8.1, 10MB hard disk space, Internet Explorer 4.0.1 or Netscape 4.0.

Install instructions

Mac OS				Mac OS X

The world's most popular Windows-based Zip utility, this product allows you to view, extract, create and otherwise manage Zip files based around PKWare's popular compression algorithms. It also manages TAR, BinHex and UUencoded files.

Licence: Shareware.
Online: http://www.winzip.com/
Operating system: Windows 95/98/Me, Windows NT/2000.
Requires:

Install instructions

		Windows

This popular FTP client was one of the first Windows-based FTP clients, and has been slowly improving over the years to become an easy-to-use, feature-packed tool. While FTPing with your browser will suffice for infrequent transfers, if you intend to transfer a large number of files over the Internet a comprehensive FTP client is highly recommended. WS_FTP is one of the best.

Licence: Freeware.
Online: http://www.ipswitch.com/products/WS_FTP/
Operating system: Windows 95/98/Me, Windows NT/2000.
Requires:

Install instructions

		Windows

Winamp for Linux. No machine should be without this highly refined, high-quality MP3 player for Linux. Every feature you love about Winamp you'll find here, right down to visualisation plugins and skins.

Licence: GPL.
Online: http://www.xmms.org/
Operating system: Linux.
Requires: GTK+.

Install instructions

		Linux