|
|
Site
Surfing Must Have Software:
................ Why I recommend America Online
marshfarm ComputerTutor
must have Software Pages
(this is the stuff I wouldn't be without and recommend to others ~ presented here with reviews and links for getting it for yourself ~usually for FREE)
This has to be the most impressive single piece of
software available for free download on the internet. I got it back
when it was version 5.0, before Sun bought it. I do everything
with this puppy! I built this page with it, keep the books
in it, do word processing and desktop publishing with it. You can
use it as a web browser, e-mail client, and personal organizer -
although I don't use it for those things myself. In short it
does everything that MS Office® does, including saving files in
MS Office® formats (.xls, .doc, etc.) so you can share files
with people who paid BIG BUCK$ for MS Office®!.. The
downside? The help files absolutely suck. You pretty much have to
poke around yourself to learn how to do things; although all the
common tasks are pretty straightforward, setting up an e-mail
client, for example, is not exactly intuitive. All the same, this
program is well worth the $39.95 they want to send you the CD-ROM,
and I recommend that if you can handle the 60+MB download you get it
free while you still can. ~Microsoft's
Powertoys~ If
I didn't have Send to X, part of the Powertoys package I
don't know how I could get along on a computer. Well, I could get
along, but it would be a pain in the butt. I use Send to Any
Folder all the time to move or copy files in conjunction with
Windows Explorer and it makes life much easier. You have to be
careful with installing the Powertoys if you run Windows 98 however
and Microsoft offers no support if you get into trouble, but Send
to seems to work just fine. I also find Send to Clipboard
as Name extreamly handy. Send to can be configured to do all
kinds of neat things for you by just opening up it's folder
(C:\WINDOWS\SendTo) ~see
there, I just used Send to Clipboard as Name again ~
deleting what you don't want and adding shortcuts to folders or
programs. For example, a shortcut to Wordpad so you can easily open
text (.txt) files in it instead of Notepad. A shortcut to your
Zipping Program can also work pretty slick. Folders with shortcuts
within the SendTo folder create cascading menus. You can get as
involved as you like. It's easy and it works. Microsoft
moves the Powertoys around
all the time and occasionally doesn't offer them at all, so go to
Nonags or
Completelyfreesoftware
to get them.
~Sun
Microsystem's StarOffice~