And, actually, none of the local links are currently (Spring 1998)(and still now in the Spring of 2000) active. It's too painful over the current 128K link.

So, the majority of the files are very platform specific, that is, I know they'll run on Microsoft NT 4.0, which means they may run on Win9x, or Windows for Workgroups 3.11 with the Win32 extensions, but I have no idea, so please don't ask me. These files are not all of the latest over-hyped programs for every platform that can conceivably run on the 'net, but ones I actually use and can recommend as functional, useful tools (i.e., you won't find a link to FrontPage, Netscape, or Shockwave here). In the interest of efficiency most of these files are linked to the main site where they are maintained. This will also assure you of getting the latest version available, and someone else to bother about support :-) If the developer sites are busy or if you have other problems trying to download from them, the LOCAL--probably outdated--link will take you to my copy, if a freely distributable version is available.

HTML and other Web Development Tools

• HTMLed32 - I've used versions of this program for about six years now, from Win 3.1 on up. This program and the next two are what I refer to as NotePad on Steroids, and are the best way I've found to productively create respectable HTML. All three have user customizable toolbars and buttons so you can add whatever new tags you need. My all-time favorite feature of HTMLed is the "Never use <CENTER>" option button :-) LOCAL
• Web Media Publisher
• HomeSite - This one's become my favorite. Nice layout, with file tabs in the main window, and file and directory view windows. Actually, I've recently upgraded to Cold Fusion Studio which is basically the enterprise version of HomeSite, now at version 4.5. Projects, remote servers, and integration with VSS have made it even more indespensible.
• Paint Shop Pro - JASC, Inc. doesn't seem to advertise a web site in their docs or help files, so this link is to the latest copy I have, 4.12, from Jan. 1997. If you haven't already seen a favorable review of this program, where've ya been? LOCAL (side note: while I'm in here updating other things, I remembered the registered copy where I'm working now is newer, and has a web site listed, so as soon as I get the proper link, I'll update this one too.)
• ACDSee - THE BEST graphics viewer. Microsoft could learn more than a few lessons in user interface design from this program. I keep this one loaded for quickly viewing my /images subdirectory, as well as cleanup (multi-file move and delete, etc.) Also nice for manipulating large a.b.p.e archives :-)
• ActiveX Control Pad - If you're going to be doing any ActiveX deployment, I much prefer this tool to VisualInterStudioDev, or whatever in the hell it's called this week.

Mail, News, and other Internet Clients

• Pegasus - My favorite back when I was stuck in a Novell environment, I had flings with IMail and Eudora on WfWg, and I've found no reason to look for anything else except Pine in the UNIX world, but for everyday use in the Windows world, Pegasus is the one I recommend.
• WinVN - The best USENet newsreader you can get for any price (100% free in this case).
• Mosaic - My all-time favorite browser. It's too bad that so few site designers seem to understand what the web is actually for. It is my firm belief that the capabilities of HTML 2.0 have yet to be fully exploited, and yet so many seem to have a hard time staying within the standards of HTML 3.2 in order to make information available to as many as possible.
• WS_FTP

NT Servers

• WebSite - httpd - Stable, robust, fast, extensible, excellent support in the rare case you might need it...I can't think of enough good things to say about this program, its progammer, Bob Denny, or its distributor, O'Reilly Software.
• Post.Office - smtpd and pop3d - A complete e-mail system that not only works, but can be easily maintained. If you've gotten stuck with Exchange, discover that it can be done right. Software.com also has an DNS server that's real nice, although the one that comes with NT 4 works just fine also (if you're very strict with your zone files).
• Ataman Telnet Daemon - telnetd...what more can you say?
• NNS - nntpd -- this poor news server seems to have been abandoned. It worked so nice...I guess to stay current, I'd better learn how DNews works :-)

NT Utilities and System Tools

• TextPad32 - change all of your file extension associations and SendTo that have to do with textfiles from NotePad to TextPad. My favorite text editor since QEdit for DOS. LOCAL
• WinZip - The single most useful addition to your desktop and FileManager. File compression and archiving with directory and long filename support.
• DiskKeeper - The second most useful utility for NT. An NTFS file defragmenter.

Visual Basic, Access, and Office97

• If you're here actually reading this drivel, I'm 'prolly preaching to the choir, but there are some tools you can't download, you have to break down and buy. When it comes to stable development tools and developer support, I don't think you can currently beat Microsoft. NT, from 3.5 on, is a better OS than any other available for the desktop, and for about 95% of server applications (and the other 5% will need something even more robust, like VMS, not UNIX). Irregardless of what you may have heard to the contrary, NT is perfectly capable of being a 100% Internet gateway into the corporate LAN, as well as being a most excellent replacement for Novell.

  The combination of VB 4.0 (and now, especially, 6.0) and MS Access (from version 1.1 on, but even more so now with the Jet 3.5 or above engine) are more than adequate for development of Information Management systems, as well as client access into a RDBMS, as well as developing applications that talk directly to the WinSock and Win32 APIs.

  Microsoft may be fumbling around with their attempts at Internet servers and flash-over-substance HTML authoring tools, but their desktop integration with the Office 97 Professional suite, as well as the Office applications themselves, aren't going to be beat by anything from Lotus or Corel (except Corel Draw) for the forseeable future. If only Outlook would handle replying to e-mail like a real smtp client, e.g, Pine, Pegasus, Eudora, I would start recommending it as a possible alternative to Pegasus.

  Anyway...enough of that rant. Here are the other dev tools I use.

• Dolphin Systems - Developers of a WinSock OCX for Visual Basic, and many other nice tools.
• The Internet RFC's