Software to the Internet

by Jeff Carrell, E-Mail Liaison

reprinted from Signals May 1995 (IEEE FtWorth Section Newsletter)

In the March article, I talked about what the various components of Internet access were; mainly software and service providers. In the April article, I provided a chart of On-Line Systems and Internet Providers. This month, here is a chart on the different software applications available for gaining access with your personal computer.

There are many sources of software applications available for gaining access to the Internet to surf, e-mail, etc. A list of a few very good sources is:

- Using the Internet 2nd Edition (with NetCD) by Que

- Internet CD by Prentice Hall

- PC Magazine CD v2n2, Winter 1994 by Ziff-Davis

All three of these included CDs have lots and lots of software for accessing and using the Internet, but I find the one from Que to be the best of all I have been able to find.

Software to access the Internet is classified at least two ways, 'suites' and 'utilities'. The Suites are mostly all inclusive and provide you with everything needed to start your access. Utilities are applications that usually perform only one or two specific functions and you have to have a number of them to get the functions you need. The big advantage of suites, you usually don't need anything else, unless you like the features of a specific stand-alone utility better than a component of the suite.

As before, this is not a comprehensive list of all software available, it is a sample of the more popular applications available.

Just so you have an idea of the different software applications you might need, here is a list of what I personally use:

ChameleonNFS (big brother to Internet Chameleon)

NetScape Navigator (A better browser than the one included with Chameleon)

GhostView

UUCode

In closing, what would y'all like to know more about. To date, I have covered most of the high level topics concerning basic e-mail and Internet topics, but what other information would help you in your quest to get on the 'Net? Please reply via e-mail at j.carrell@ieee.org, or v/f at 817.595.0343. Don't be shy, ask for any basic topic covering this very large subject. Thanx...Jeff