Internet Internet Programs

For more Internet info (including FTP, newsgroups, and plug-ins), please see our Internet and WWW pages.

AceFTP
AceFTP3 Freeware
Version: 3.0 Date: Jul 8, 2003
Description: This is a nice (and free!) FTP client. There is a small, integrated advertisement window, but it's not annoying.
BlazeFTP
BlazeFTP
Version: 2.1.0.1 Date: Aug 18, 2003
Description: This is my favorite FTP client - and it's free!
BaliDynDNS
BaliDynDNS
Version: 6.46 Date: Sep 22, 2003
Description: A simple, free Dynamic DNS updater. This is currently my favorite updater! The biggest drawbacks with this program are the interface and instructions (the programmer's first language appears to be French, not English). Run this program with the "/c" option to have it close after updating your Dynamic DNS (no need to have it keep polling, unless your IP is changing a lot!).
Core FTP LE
Core FTP LE
Version: 1.3.0.0. Date: Mar 31, 2005
Description: A decent (free!) FTP client. BlazeFTP is still my favorite free client, but this isn't bad.
Direct Update
DirectUpdate
Version: 3.6.3 Date: Aug 4, 2003
Description: DirectUpdate is another free Dynamic DNS updater. This one has the ability to run as a Windows service, which is a nice feature. Unfortunately, version 3.6.3 doesn't support "private IPs" (10.x.x.x, like those used in a VPN connection), so this doesn't work for the configuration where you want your home PC to be accessible from computers at work (thru a Dynamic DNS domain). The author (William Levra-Juillet) assured me on Aug 13, 2003, that this feature will be available in the next version. I hope so!
DynSite
DynSite
Version: 1.11.723.3 Date: Jun 25, 2003
Description: DynSite may be the most powerful - and confusing - of the Dynamic DNS updaters I've tried. Once setup, it worked fine, automatically detecting a new IP address (even a private IP address, as reported thru an IP-detection script running on a private web server - useful for VPNs!) and updating the Dynamic DNS. It seemed to "hang" sometimes though, refusing to recognize a new IP address. Combine that with the fact this this $15 shareware expires after 30 days (if not registered) and this drops to a distant second place behind my preferred updater, BaliDynDNS (above).
Filezille
Filezilla
Version: Date:
Description: A pretty good (free!) FTP client. I like BlazeFTP slightly better than this, but Filezilla is probably my second choice FTP client.
FTP Explorer
FTP Explorer
Version: 1.0.0.010 Date: Jun 3, 1997
Description: This is a simple (free) FTP client. The last update was in 1997, though, so it doesn't look like it's in active development and will probably never have any more features than the limited set it has now.
FTPRush
FTPRush
Version: 1.0.0593 Date:
Description: This FTP client used to be free, but it's now $30. An earlier version that I tried out once looked like it could be good some day, but it was still too rough around the edges. The "favorites" were too confusing - if you can't easily access your favorite FTP sites, you're wasting your time. I'm not sure if this has changed since then. Since discovering the free BlazeFTP, I haven't looked for another FTP client.
MSIE
Internet Explorer
Version: 7.0 Date: Oct 17, 2006
Description: It's been 5 years since IE6 came out, so you'd think Microsoft would have done a better job with the first release of IE7. It adds some "modern" browser features (tabs, pop-up blocking, etc.), but it suffers from a horrible GUI, including many non-standard elements (like inflexible toolbars and a menu bar that is NOT at the top of the window). Also, so many websites were designed to be IE-only that they were hard-coded to only allow IE6's user agent string. IE7 identifies itself as a different UA, so many websites are rejecting it.

You can fix some of the above problems:

Microsoft has an official IE7 add-on page. My favorites are: Here are my favorite add-ons for IE6 (untested in IE7): If you'd like to extend the search capability of IE6, look at Searchy and the simple Registry settings required. If you'd like to add more search engines to IE7, you can get some from Microsoft, Searchy, or Mycroft. All of those are based on the OpenSearch standard. Microsoft's and Searchy's plugins don't include an icon because IE7 doesn't support them, but you'll get Microsoft of Searchy's favicon for all plugins installed in Firefox through them. If you'd like to create a plugin that compatible with both Firefox 2 and IE7, include a reference to the icon like the plugins at Mycroft do (see the XML for an OpenSearch plugin).
Mozilla
Mozilla
Version: 1.5RC2 Date: Sep 25, 2003
Description: Outstanding browser! Tabbed browsing. Blocked popups. What more could you want? Try some themes (like Orbit 3+1 official or unofficial) and other add-ons (like PrefBar) from MozDev! Here's a cool way to add the Home Button back! Mozilla.org also has some good information on customizing Mozilla and writing some killer pages w/ DOM, CSS, and JS. You can find more themes at Deskmod. Mozilla is scheduled to evolve into Firefox, so I recommend using Firefox instead (and it rocks!).
Firefox
Mozilla Firefox
Version: 1.5.0.4 Date: Jun 2, 2006
Description: Firefox is the stand-alone implementation of Mozilla's web browser. They're constantly releasing new versions.

Firefox supports a vast and varied set of Extensions; try some from Mozilla Update or MozDev's ExtensionRoom, or The Extensions Mirror.

Also, look at some of the great projects at MozDev.

Or, try some themes from Mozilla Update or MozDev. My favorite themes are Orbit 3+1 (here or here) and Qute.

My favorite extensions are:

You can also search right from the toolbar using the built-in Mycroft (based on Apple's Sherlock search plugins).

Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird
Version: 1.0.7 Date: Sep 23, 2005
Description: Another cool product from the Mozilla Organization - a pretty nice email client. Like its sister-product, Firefox, Thunderbird supports Extensions.
Outlook
Outlook
Version: 2003 SP3 Date: Jan 30, 2008
Description: The quintessential business app. This single application probably gets more use in today's businesses than any single other app! Useful links:
Outlook
Outlook Express
Version: 5.5 Date: ???
Description: A nice, free email app.
Putty
Putty
Version: 0.52 beta Date: Jan 14, 2002
Description: A simple SSH (secure shell) client.
QuoteTracker
QuoteTracker
Version: 3.5.7b Date: Nov 19, 2004
Description: An incredibly powerful stock watcher! I use it everyday, all day!
SmartFTP
SmartFTP
Version: 1.0.979.1 Date: Sep 17, 2003
Description: This FTP client is OK, but it's shareware. Might have some nice queueing features, though (I really haven't played with it much).
WEFT
WEFT
Version: 5.3.0.24 Date: Jan 23, 2001
Description: This isn't actually an application for accessing the internet, but rather a tool for helping with web design. Microsoft's WEFT (Windows Embedded Font Tool) creates embedded True Type fonts for use on a web server. Rather strangely, though, the resulting font file contains embedded information including the name of the web server. Therefore, you can't use the same file on more than one server (and you can't change servers without re-creating all of your embedded fonts). Also, Internet Explorer is the only browser I know that supports these embedded fonts. Shortcomings aside, this is really the only way to create embedded fonts, and it's nice to have at least even part of your audience see the site correctly.
WinSCP
WinSCP
Version: 3.1 Date: Jul 16, 2003
Description: An awesome, easy-to-use SCP (secure copy) GUI client.
WS_FTP
WS FTP
Version: 96.12.19.1 (4.0.3.1) Date: May 17, 1997
Description: A simple and easy (but powerful) FTP client.

The information above represents my experience with a certain version of each piece of software. I have no vested interest in any of these programs, and only provide this info as a guide (your experience and preferences may vary greatly!).

The version number listed is the latest version I have tried. To download the latest version, click on the name or the icon of the program, which should take you to the program's homepage, or to a software archive site.