As a reviewer I talk a lot about what's new, what's great and what's not. This time around I thought it might be nice to look at what I run on my PC: tools and utilities that make my computing experience easier. Here's what's always loaded : PC Anywhere, Norton Anti-Virus, Microsoft Office 2000, Internet Explorer, WinZip 8.0, Mass Downloader, Music Match, Paint Shop Pro and Acrobat Reader. I've reviewed some of these in past columns, but let's take a look at why they're so vital to me day to day.
PC Anywhere from Symantec is a remote control product: you control one computer from another. With connection options from direct serial cable to network TCP/TP to modem, this one has it all. I connect from home to my work PC to retrieve company email, grab files I'm working on or just pretend to be at my office desk. Lots of security features like password protection and call back keeps everything safe. A real gem that with version 9.2 supports Windows 2000, Windows 9x and NT.
Norton Anti-Virus is another great program from Symantec. With version 2000 comes email scanning and full Windows 2000 support, as well as the tried and true features like anti-virus scanning at start up, scheduling and free signature updates via Live Update. You never know what's coming in on an email attachment or download, so better safe than sorry.
Microsoft Office 2000 is the defacto office productivity suite and a mainstay for most of us. After growing up on its features, each version adds a little more: version 2000 puts a slew of web tools into the standard applications and integrates Publisher and Front Page into select editions. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow, and surely 80 % of the market can't be wrong?
Internet Explorer from Microsoft: can any of us live without internet access anymore? Microsoft took the lead from Netscape long ago and hasn't looked back; plus it's bundled with the operating system, for now.
WinZip from Nico Mak Computing was one of the earliest zipping tools for Windows, and I've kept with it up to the current version 8. I can't say it's changed much from the original, but it zips and unzips files. It's that what it's supposed to do?
Mass Downloader from Meta Products is a new addition for me. With downloads so large nowadays, it's common to start one and find after three hours your connection was cut. Now what? Resume the download and enjoy! Mass Downloader distinguishes itself by starting multiple threads of the download at once, so it's like having the file broken into smaller pieces and brought at the same time. Other competitors include Go!Zilla and Get Right.
Music Match from, well, Music Match is my favourite MP3 player, ripper and jukebox rolled into one. If you're new to digital music or an old hand, Music Match has features you're looking for. Version 5 includes the ability to write a music CD from a selected group of MP3's, plus lot's more. Well worth the download.
Paint Shop Pro from Jasc Software is an imaging product that handles most any graphic. Whether organizing your image library or tweaking clip art, this one will get the job done. It's filled with features found in high end packages like Adobe Photoshop, but at a fraction of the price. I only due rudimentary work with this, but I'm just scratching the surface. Currently at version 6.02, the feature list is so long you're best to check it out through the link.
Acrobat Reader from Adobe is required to view PDF documents that are everywhere on the web. Acrobat takes a piece of work from a program, such as Photoshop or Quark, and makes it into a standardized document anyone can see by using the reader. An ingenious piece of work, Adobe created the standard and lets everyone share.
I've got lots more installed on my system, but these items are used the most and therefore deemed crucial. Most are shareware, some free, so follow the links and see for yourself.
By Scott VanderPloeg
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