Mac

Windows

Running Windows 3.x? Some applications may require the win32s 32-bit extensions in order to run in Windows 3.x. If you haven't already got win32s installed, click here to set it up. Or wait, and if you have problems with a Win 3.x application, install win32s then.

SpeedNet claims to turbo charge your Internet connection by up to 300%. The simple interface sets up SpeedNet for your operating system and modem speed, as well as higher bandwidth connections such as cable modems and ISDN, then changes the maximum speed at which you can transfer packets on the Internet. There's an option to restore your original settings if you're not happy.

Like many similar products, SpeedNet does not work with non-Microsoft Dial-Up Networking connections.

Web link: http://brock.iwz.com/soft.htm

Cartographer is a unique tool that combines a bookmark utility, search engine and also charts the relationships between Web documents. As you browse, IC analyses and records the keywords in the Web pages you visit, building a map of shared terms, shared categories and links. The relationships between the millions of different sites makes for some complex looking charts, but there's a handy tool to help you zoom in on what you want.

Web link: www.inventix.com

Freeware

Search By Media (SBM) is a media retrieval tool that scours the Internet for movie clips, audio files, or images. Enter the name of an artist and SBM scans away in the background, eliminating the tedious trial-and-error process of trawling through thousands of Web pages. Filters for adult content are also included.

Web link: www.searchbymedia.com

Opera
v3.6
(W3x/NT3.51)

New versions

If you want to get back to the basics of Web browsing, Opera is the fast and simple browser that you're looking for. This new version includes support for Cascading Style Sheets and it can make use of Sun's Java plugin. There are many other improvements and enhancements, nevertheless Opera remains uncumbersome.

Web link: www.operasoftware.com

Latest version
– requires IE4 or higher

This is a Web navigation tool that addresses two common problems: slow page loading and tedious backtracking. By simply dragging links from your browser into the MicroSurfer window, pages are downloaded in the background to your cache while you continue to browse in the foreground. Clicking on any of the links listed in the MicroSurfer window then displays the page almost instantly in your browser. Colour-coded icons let you know when a link is ready to be viewed. You can also create persistent links, so that every time you launch MicroSurfer they begin downloading automatically.

Web link: www.microsurfer.com

NOTE: It is strongly recommended that you uninstall any other version of Netscape already installed on your system – then reboot your computer and install this latest version.

Latest version
More enhancements to the Netscape suite. Browse the Web, use email, chat and get up to all sorts of other online activities.

Download Web sites for offline browsing.

An excellent bookmark utility that stores all your Opera, Netscape and Internet Explorer bookmarks/favourites in one user-friendly interface. Keywords are retrieved from Web pages so searching through your bookmarks can be a breeze.

Web link: www.kaylon.com

Spinner Plus is a free Internet music player that gives you access to over 175,000 songs categorised into over 120 channels of music. Choose from channels such as Awesome80's, Swing, Techno, Country, Hip-Hop, Latin Pop, and Oldies, and enjoy a continuous stream of music right from your desktop. Spinner operates independently of a browser, with no additional software or plug-ins needed. By incorporating RealNetwork's G2 technology, version 2.0 improves sound quality by 80 percent and can adjust audio streaming to match your Internet connection speed, which helps to eliminate sound distortion and choppiness. Other features include complete artist, song, and title information, and the ability to purchase CDs directly from within the player.

Web link: www.spinner.com

The solution provided by this program is to establish more than one browser cache, to separate them from each other and switch between them as required. Up to ten fully independent caches can be created. Each cache can be used for different time periods or topics as required. Switching is done very easily and does not destroy any information stored.

Here it is! The final release version 5 of Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser. It's not just a browser, you get lots of extras, including many multimedia extensions.

You may be required to connect to the Internet during or before installation. Microsoft recommends that you uninstall any previous versions of IE before installing this version.

This handy utility lets you download, store and view Web sites offline. WebZip centres around a task editor. Here you can tell it to download entire sites or specific sections of a site. You can also choose the types of files you don't want downloaded. Your tasks can then be scheduled for download at a time of your choice. There's smart recovery built in so WebZip will retry failed download attempts. It also incorporates Smart Update that downloads only the pages that are new or have changed, although some web servers may not support this.

Web link: www.spidersoft.com

A Web accelerator with the usual features plus some extras. Pre-fetches pages and retrieves entire sites; optimises TCP/IP settings; also allows offline browsing.

And it's FREE! Yes, just the expense of having to put up with a little advertising means you get a fully working program.

Web link: Acceleration Software

Mac OS

NOTE: The Mac programs are mostly in archived 'HQX' (BinHex) files – they can be extracted with several applications, including Stuffit Expander (which is on the CD...). Clicking on the links below should set the process in motion. You may receive a message that the file cannot be loaded into Simple Text — if so, start Stuffit and then open the HQX file you want from within Stuffit.

This tool makes it quick and easy to download Web pages, associated images and links for offline browsing. Incorporates a URL and email address extractor.

Web link: Chaotic Software

Subway Passport is a content and channel manager. It serves up MAC focused channels such as MAC Station, a Net software and hardware resource; Culture Station, where there tons of links to music, radio and movie news; Tech Station and much more. It is somewhat US-centric.

Subway Passport integrates with your browser and adds a slick means of browsing up-to-date news. There's a built-in streaming audio player for access to Net Radio Station and Subway Passport works with RadioWave and ZapSearch plug-ins.

Web link: www.subwaynetwork.com

Protect your anonymity online by getting rid of unwanted cookies from your machine. Cookie Commander is a slick utility that runs in the background giving you complete control over the cookies to trust or reject. Friendly cookies can be flagged as 'Gourmet', which skips the clean up process.

This program helps you keep track of your Web browsing history. Using Apple's Information Access Toolkit (AIAT is also used by Sherlock), iRemember indexes all of the words in every Web page you visit. If you want to revisit a page, you only need to type in a couple of words that describe that page. A history is maintained in chronological order. This program works in conjunction with Netscape Navigator 2.02-4.5, Internet Explorer 3.0-4.5, AOL Browser 2.7-4.0, and iCab 1.x.

Updated since last issue

Sherlock is a new feature of OS 8.5 allowing you to find files on your computer as well as search the Internet. This set of Sherlock plug-ins lets you search many more sites than the few that come with the OS.

To use these files once unpacked, just drop them into the Internet Search Sites folder in your system folder and then open Sherlock. You'll then be able to search these sites using keywords. There are over 300 sites in this set and more are added regularly.

This major upgrade of Microsoft's Web browser includes Outlook Express.

To install, copy the file from the software\mac\browsing\netscape folder to your hard disk and double-click it.

URL Manager Pro 2.5.1 supports the OS 8.5. Lets you use the same set of bookmark files for both Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. It keeps track of the last 1,000 sites visited and allows you to drag and drop URLs. Unregistered copies of URL Manager Pro will disable the 'Save To Browser' command after 30 days and have several other limitations.

Keeping track of where you have been on the Web can be difficult. With CyberViewer, the task is made much easier. The program displays a floating window that graphically depicts where you have been during the current session of Netscape, enabling rapid navigation between sites.

You will need a PowerPC, System 7.5 or later, and Netscape Communicator/Navigator.