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I've written about Opera many times
before--- it's a well-done, fast and compact browser with a fanatically loyal
following. Even when Microsoft and Netscape
started giving away their browsers for free, Opera remained a commercial
offering ($40). But it was good enough--- faster, smaller, supporting more
platforms, and with special features (such as good customizability for persons
with vision problems)--- that it sold in numbers large enough for Opera to
become a player in the browser wars. It wasn't perfect, of course--- what
is? Opera tended to be very rigid and fussy about HTML, and often displayed
pages differently from Netscape and Internet Explorer. Sometimes, this was
because Opera was showing the pages the "right" (standards-compliant)
way. Other times, Opera just seemed contrarian and idiosyncratic. And although
it was highly standards-compliant in areas it did support, Opera also tended to
lag behind the major browsers in adopting newer standards. And parts of Opera---
such as its scripting engine--- were just awful; orders of magnitude slower than
the major browsers. These drawbacks, plus the fact that you had to pay for
Opera, limited its growth. So, Opera just released a new
version---- version 5--- that tries to address many of these issues. The new
version is now available, and offers a built-in search capability, an Instant
Messaging client (based on ICQ), plus improvements in JavaScript e-mail,
stability, memory usage, and more. Plus, Version 5 is now free; or
rather, advertising-supported ("ad-ware" or "bannerware")
via the Cydoor ad-delivery service (See http://www.cydoor.com/Cydoor/
). Cydoor's code it built into the
Opera browser. Like all adware, Cydoor steals a little bandwidth to communicate
with its ad servers. And like some other adware, it may do some demographic
tracking so that the ads it shows you will be targeted specifically to you. All adware gives me pause because---
even if it's completely benign--- I just don't like apps that "phone
home" behind my back. There are too many crackers and malicious web sites
out there for me to be completely comfortable with any app that wants to track
me; or to quietly open a connection to a remote server from time to time, and
perform actions about which I have no knowledge or control. But that's
me. The flip side is that adware lets
you get software you'd otherwise have to pay for, for free. And in the case of
Opera, the software's pretty good. If you want to take a test drive,
it's at: http://www.operasoftware.com/ Click to
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In a recent issue ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-12-07.htm#3
) we discussed the beta Beonex browser, which I described as "Netscape 6
Minus The Extra Baggage." Beonex uses the same "Gecko" core
engine that powers Netscape 6, and even looks almost exactly like Netscape 6,
except that all the branding/co-marketing/user-tracking stuff is missing. You
can download Beonex for free at http://www.beonex.com/
although (as mentioned before) it's a beta and is definitely buggy. Reader Christian Vargas points out
that other browsers also use the Gecko engine: Hi fred, i noticed
you mentioned Beonex, a replacement for Netscape 6... i'd like to mention
another very interesting (and fully open-sourced) browser based on that (same
Gecko) engine. K-meleon ( http://www.kmeleon.org
) looks like Internet Explorer (for familiarity reasons i'd guess). It's right
now on version 0.2.1, but it's pretty stable (it's based on a more recent build
of the Mozilla code than Netscape 6). Thanks, Christian. If you want to
see what Gecko feels like in IE-style trappings, K-meleon is worth a look! Click to
email this item to a friend A number of readers wrote with
questions about the Microsoft Office 2000 SR2 patch that was just released. (See
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-12-11.htm#5
) For example, "Phil"
wondered: Hi Fred, Shouldn't some
mention have been made of the important [some would say disastrous] changes SP-2
makes to Outlook2K? You don't seem to counsel caution in installing SP-2; other
lists I subscribe to do, and for what seem to be substantial reasons. MSoft's
security "changes" could make life very difficult for anyone receiving
a variety of e-mail with attachments. I always counsel caution with huge
patches like this. 8-) That's why, in the issue linked above, I said
"Microsoft has a spotty history with these Service Packs. They're nobly
intentioned: They're free aggregate patches that correct a slew of bugs and
security holes and sometimes add new features. But the Service Packs are large
(SP2 weighs in at 9MB), and sometimes end up creating a whole new set of
problems." That item also included a link to http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/2000/journ/OffSP2.htm
, which details everything that's in SP2. But beyond that, Phil's question
nicely illustrates a quandary I regularly find myself in. For example, many of
the individual patches bundled inside SP2 were released separately in the past,
including the Outlook security update. I covered that particular patch in
considerable detail in previous issues of the LangaList, including http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-05-18.htm#5
, http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-06-12.htm#9
, and http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-06-22.htm#5
. My quandary is if I do go over
material that's been done exhaustively in the past, I risk putting long-term
readers to sleep. If I don't re-hash older issues, new readers might miss out. There's no simple solution: I'll try
to provide a reasonable amount of links to (and information from) ancillary
resources and past issues, but without going overboard. It might also be good to
make it a habit to explore any ancillary links I include, and--- especially if
you're a newer reader--- to note that all past issues of the LangaList are
available, completely full-text indexed and searchable via three different
search engines at http://www.langa.com/search.htm
. With all the past issues there, and searchable three different ways, you
should be able to find just about anything you might need to check out! 8-) Click to
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In a recent issue, we discussed ways
you can obtain a full copy of all the IE or Netscape setup files without having
to order a CD. Having a local copy can be a timesaver if you anticipate having
to reload the browser several times or on several machines. (See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-12-07.htm#2
) But the tricks we discussed--- such
as altering the standard on-line installation process--- won't work on all
machines all the time. For example, the on-line download front-end may detect
your Operating System version and send you files only for that version. This
obviously is not helpful if you're downloading the files to install the browser
on many different systems. Or, you may run afoul of Windows
2000's system file protection mechanisms, which will try to force you to take
the download the default way, or no way at all. But, as usual, clever and
ever-helpful LangaList readers had some great workarounds: My solution is simplicity
itself - When I'm at a computer store, I keep my eyes peeled for installation
disks for Internet Service Providers. If you poke around the CD, you'll find a
directory with the entire IE setup package. The browser is sometimes branded for
the individual ISP, but heck, it works.... In fact, if your reader calls a
couple of service providers, he'll soon have a mailbox filled with IE setup
disks.--- Bruce R. Turnquist Ever get one of those AOL
CD's in the mail or attached to the newspaper ? They have IE on them. I do not
allow CD autorun so it is easy enough to drill down to the installation file for
the single application. Although others may want to tweak out the icons and
title bars I don't bother as I often reformat my entire hard drive (because I
can). ---James Dougherty Wow! Finally, a use for all those
AOL CDs! <g> Reader Matt Scarborough was the
first to find and send in information about a couple of items buried in the
Microsoft KnowledgeBase that explain why Windows 2000 has trouble with the
download-only option in the first place (see http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q259/6/76.ASP
) and how you still can work around that problem and manage to
"download-only" even if you are running Win2K: Thanks to all who wrote in! Click to
email this item to a friend Many thanks to all who have signed
up so far for the new LangaList Plus! Edition. The announcement of a new version
triggered a fair amount of email from readers of this--- the "Standard
Edition"--- who were concerned about what they'd be missing by not
switching to the Plus! edition. It's important to stress that the Standard
Edition will remain UNCHANGED. But you see, I often have far more
good information to present than will fit in the "Standard Edition"
format. In fact, I have a whole file-folder full of tips, tricks, new
downloads, great sites, and interesting reader mail that I've saved in hopes of
being able to present it, but which has never quite made it into the limited
format and publication frequency of this version of the newsletter. As I already
bring you all the information the current format allows, to bring you more
information, I need a new format; simple as that. So, the Plus! edition is actually a
superset of this edition. It's everything you've come to expect in the existing
LangaList, with lots more besides. But that doesn't mean the Plus!
edition will be hugely long: You see, there are no ads in the Plus! version, so
I can use the space that normally would be used for ads to bring you additional
content, over and above what's in the Standard Edition. Also, because the Plus! version
isn't tied to an advertising schedule, I have more freedom in setting delivery
times and options. I simply can let the content define what the newsletter
should be, rather than having to fit things into a preexisting format and
schedule. In summary form, the Plus! Edition
offers everything in the Standard Edition, plus: The version you're now reading---
the Standard Edition--- is free, and I have no plans to change that. But
remember: Your ad clicks are what make it possible for me to bring you this
version for free! All I ask is that you click on the ad links and see what my
sponsors have to offer. The Plus! Edition carries no ads,
and so I have to ask a modest fee---only about 10¢ per issue!--- to cover my
costs. The cost is as low as I can make it, and works out to be $10 for a full
year of newsletters, extra issues, extra services, and more. Full details are available at http://www.langa.com/plus.htm BTW: The opening of the Plus!
subscription rolls went smoothly, with the only major glitch being a problem
with processing Discover Cards properly. (My credit-card processor failed to set
that up the right way, so all Discover cards were initially rejected. Sigh.)
Fortunately, that's now been resolved, and the LangaList Plus! can be ordered
with Discover, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, PayPal, eCheck/online check,
or (whew!) by mail. If you like the current Standard
Edition, you'll probably like the Plus! edition even more because it offers all
you now get, plus more--- more content, more options, more benefits.... Please
check it out! Click to
email this item to a friend Reader "Trigdenton" has
some good advice, but it must be taken with caution: Last year I was having some
virus problems and visited the McAfee site and found a free 10-day trial offer
for the McAfee Clinic. Did I ever use every portion of the Clinic! Part of
the Clinic is an update search machine. In fact, I had my son try it tonight
since we share the same machine, and McAfee Clinic found at least 5 times more
updates available for stuff on my computer than the ZDNet Updates.com (I
ran that too.). And I have checked out the others you mentioned but nothing
comes close to what McAfee has.... You can try Clinic for 10 days free
by following this link: http://www.langa.com/mcafee_clinic.htm Why the caution? It's because these
free trials are supposed to be used to evaluate software for purchase--- it's a
"try before you buy" deal. There's nothing to prevent you from using
the software even if you have absolutely no intention of buying, but that skates
into an ethical gray area. But now you have the product info,
the link, and the context: Do with it what you will. 8-) Click to
email this item to a friend Thanks to thousands of you, the
LangaList is one of the ten most-recommended "Computing &
Internet" web sites, according to the folks at Recommend-It! (See http://www.recommend-it.com/RecCenter/10.html
.) It's a great feeling to know that this newsletter (and Langa.Com) is useful
enough for many, many of you to have suggested it to friends and colleagues. And, as a way of saying
"Thanks!" there are two prizes you can win simply for making a
recommendation. For example, if you use the Recommend-It service, you can win
$10,000 (full details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#1 Or, win a no-strings $30 Gift
Certificate for any item at Amazon.Com--- books, software, hardware,
kitchenware, toys... and more. To have a shot at winning, just use the following
link to recommend the LangaList to a friend. Your friend just may find a new
source of useful information; I just may gain a new subscriber; and you just may
win a $30 Gift Certificate! (Full details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#2 Either way, thank you again, and
good luck! Click to
email this item to a friend Almost a thousand of your fellow
readers have "Loaded The Code." Please click over to http://www.langa.com/code.htm
, and maybe you can join them! (If you've already "Loaded The Code"
and are wondering if your site will appear here or on the Langa.Com web site,
please see http://www.langa.com/link.txt
) View A Randomly-Chosen
Reader Site Manually Browse All
Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At Mr PC Pro Resteze SongTree USA Total Logistics Consulting Alaska Bob & Linda Norway's
Place (Personal links) Phoenix Rising PAUL'S CAR BUYING TIPS! Ellen's Place Click to
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We've discussed Computer Associates'
InnoculateIT Personal Edition in the past: It's a capable anti-virus tool that's
absolutely free. ( http://antivirus.cai.com/
) Reader Jonathan Ah Kit sent in a
"heads up" on another free AV tool I'd never heard of: The AVG 6.0
Anti-Virus System from http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_index.cfm Grisoft claims that "AVG
Anti-Virus 100% Detection Rate was confirmed by the independent test carried out
by experts of Virus Bulletin magazine." And the software has a decent
feature-list: The only thing that makes me go
"Hmmmmm" is the monthly update frequency, which is slow in the
fast-moving world of online threats. But still, it's free, so it's hard
to complain very much. <g> And now, with at least two free AV tools
available, there's really no excuse for anyone to go without virus protection! Click to
email this item to a friend Reader Dannie Phiri writes: "In
the Holiday spirit, you might wish to take a little time off thinking and
writing about computers to read the Xmas greeting below (I don't know who the
author is but definitely it's not me)." LAWYERS' SEASONAL GREETING From us ("the
wishor") to you ("hereinafter called the wishee") Please accept
without obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally
conscious, socially responsible, politically correct, low stress, non-addictive,
gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the
most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular
practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions
and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or
secular traditions at all... and a financially successful, personally fulfilling
and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted
calendar year 2001, but with due respect for the calendars of choice of other
cultures or sects, and having regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical
ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform or dietary preference of
the wishee. By accepting this greeting
you are bound by these terms that- * This greeting is subject
to further clarification or withdrawal Click to
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See you next issue! Best, Please recommend
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(The HTML version of each issue normally is available by 9AM EST [UT-5] of the
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WinMag newsletter page or signup via BrowserTune's email-notification service.
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(Please see full disclaimer here: http://www.langa.com/legal.htm.)
Abbreviated version: The tips and other information given in the newsletter are
researched and are believed to be accurate, but we cannot and do not guarantee
that all the information here will work on all systems, for all users, all the
time. All information herein is offered as-is and without warranty of any kind.
Neither Langa Consulting LLC, nor its employees nor contributors are responsible for
any loss, injury, or damage, direct or consequential, resulting from application
of any information presented here. This newsletter is a free
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