Software on the Net

Forrest Stroud has developed a tremendous site which reviews and links to many kinds of Internet software for Windows (3.X/95/NT). He calls it the "Consummate Winsock Applications List". This link takes you to his Introduction page, where you can work through to the specific references you need. There are a number of duplicate "mirror" sites, and you may want to locate and bookmark a site closer to home.

Chris Johnson at the University of Texas has put together an excellent archive of MacIntosh freeware and shareware. Provides good references and links to the MAC Archives at Apple Computer, Stanford University, and the University of Michigan.

PKZIP is, perhaps, the most famous compression software available. Software at this site will "zip" and "unzip" files that you have. This is useful when you want to send or transfer large files to someone else. It is indispensable when you want to save a large file to diskette, and the file is too large for one floppy.

It is easy to imagine that you don't have to worry too much about getting a computer virus - until your computer goes down. McAfee produces Anti-Virus software that can clean and disinfect the most potent strains of infection. Available for evaluation.

Introduced in 1988, Eudora was among the first applications to enable user-friendly Internet email management via a graphical interface. It is now estimated to service over 60% of all Internet mailboxes. There is both a "Postcard-Ware" version for free download, and a Commercial version, which provides many more sophisticated features.

Netscape Communications Corporation makes the world's most popular web browser. In fact, they are developing their Navigator software as a "universal" client, capable of performing a large range of net communication and information transfer services. The Netscape site contains a lot of interesting news reports, essays and references, as well as software.

Microsoft is the single biggest competitor to Netscape with their "Internet Explorer" browser software. With the action on the Internet being so hot, the web browser battles occupy a lot of attention. However, this site will also give you access to the various Windows, Office, and Back Office products that Microsoft has developed.

The National Centre for Supercomputing Applications is one of a small group of supercomputing centres funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation. Established in 1986 at the University of Illinois, the centre is renowned for the development of the first web browser - NCSA Mosaic - which was released in 1993. An interesting site which has a lot of information.

Lotus Development Corporation built its original reputation with the development of the widely-used spreadsheet program - Lotus 1-2-3. In recent years, however, its networking software - Lotus Notes - has been making huge inroads in the enterprise networking market. Purchased by IBM in 1995, the company is benefitting from the marketing resources of that organization.

Apple pioneered graphical interfaces, since adopted by other desktop and network system developers. They have a large installed position with schools, but have not been able to make much of an inroad in the business market. Apple is currently developing an innovative package called Netdog. Still in a beta version at this writing, it appears to offer great potential.

This document was last modified on 1 September, 1996. The page is maintained by Paul Armstrong. If you have comments or suggestions for improvements, please contact the Nettools Coordinator.