ZoneAlarm Pro
ZoneAlarm is the only firewall we recommend. There are many firewalls on the market including one built into Windows XP, however, none equal ZoneAlarm. In addition the firewall built-in to Windows XP is wholly inadequate. There are two versions of ZoneAlarm a free version and a "Pro" version which costs $39.95. From a pure firewall protection standpoint both versions are equal, however, ZoneAlarm Pro also has the ability to block popups and provides protection against malice e-mail attachments being received by a computer and prevents the computer from spreading viral payloads if it should become infected.
Windows 98SE, ME, NT, 2000 and XP
Avast! antivirus
Avast! antivirus is our choice for antivirus software. It has a wide arrange of licensing options including a free version for home users.
Windows 98, ME, 2000 Pro, XP, Linux
Any computer that is connected to the Internet has the potential to end up with spyware, adware or scumware (a.k.a. malware) installed on it unintentionally. This is especially true in homes with children who have access to the computer.
Spyware is software that reports your computer activities back to some third-party. This could be as simply as simply tracking your Internet surfing habits to as egregious as recording every keystroke made on your computer and transmitting this information to a third party.
Adware is software that gets installed along with "free" software and then causes ads (especially pop-up ads) to be displayed while one is surfing the Internet or using the computer. Commonly these programs get installed on a computer when peer-to-peer music swapping software such as Kazza is installed.
Scumware is very similar to adware except that it actively works at stealing advertising revenues from websites. This is either done by replacing the ads on a website with different ads, or co-opting the advertisements on webpages such that if one clicks on or purchases something through the link, instead of the website publisher getting paid a commission the creator of the scumware gets that commission. The harm is that this literally steals advertising revenue from your favorite websites that is necessary for to be able to provide you with content free of charge.
PestPatrol
PestPatrol is the spyware/adware detection and removal software that we use and recommend. It does come with a free 30 day trial, although during this trial period it will only tell you if you are infected with spyware/adware, it won't help you remove it. Our advice is to download and try this software. If you find that your computer is infected, pay the registration fee so that it will help you clean up your computer.
Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP
Firefox (Open Source)
Firefox has become our primary web browser since we first discovered it in early 2004. Firefox is the award winning preview of Mozilla's next generation browser. Firefox empowers you to browse faster, more safely, and more efficiently than with any other browser. Make the switch today--Firefox imports your Favorites, settings and other information, so you have nothing to lose. With Firefox, popup ads and serendipitously aquired spyware and adware will be a thing of the past.
V2.0: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4.0, 2000, XP, Vista; Mac OS X; Linux; Solaris SPARC, x86; HPUX; AIX; OS/2
IBM Home Page Reader (for the visually impaired)
IBM Home Page Reader brings the world of the Internet to blind and low vision users using the power of voice. An individual license (includes software speech synthesizer) costs $142. We've used a trial version of this browser and it worked quite well. It does require Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher.
v3.04: Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP
Lynx (Text only browser, Open Source)
Lynx is the most popular text only Web browser. While most users would not enjoy this, it is very useful for testing a Web site for compatibility with how it may render for individuals using brail readers etc. Nearly all operating systems are supported, the trick is finding the version you need and if you can't find a compiled version for your OS, then you can download the source code and compile it yourself.
V2.8.6: almost all OSs (one might have to search for their version)
Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE)
Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE) is the 800 pound gorilla in the browser market. The odds are you already have it on your computer and are using it right now. Windows users of MSIE 5 & 6 can update their browsers by clicking on "Tools" on the menu bar and then selecting "Windows Update". We strongly encourage users to take advantage of this on a regular basis.
SECURITY NOTICE (2004-09-23): Microsoft has announced that it will no longer provide the latest security updates for MSIE running on anything other than Windows XP or Windows 2003 server. This means that if you are running a pre-WinXP version of Windows and want to keep your web browser secure, you will either need to buy a WinXP upgrade, or switch to an alternative web browser like Mozilla Firefox which is free.
V7.0: Windows XP, 2003 Server, VistaV6.0 SP2: Windows XP, 2003 Server (still supported by MicrosoftV6.0: Windows 98, ME, NT4.0, 2000 (no longer supported by Microsoft)V5.5: Windows 95 (no longer supported by Microsoft)V5.2.3: Mac OS X (no longer supported by Microsoft)V5.1.7: Mac OS 9 (no longer supported by Microsoft)
Netscape
Netscape may have lost the browser war to MSIE, and Netscape 6 was greatly maligned, but, Netscape 7 is a pretty decent Web browser. Many, however, are writing Netscape's obituary as it is owned by AOL who recently signed another multi-year deal to use MSIE as their default browser and thus have little incentive to pump money into Netscape development. As Netscape 7 is based upon Mozilla source code, like Mozilla it is very standards compliant. Also like Mozilla its one big drawback is that it is slow to open. As of version 8, Netscape uses both the Mozilla Gecko rendering engine and the MSIE rendering engine.
V8: Windows 98 SE, ME, NT4.0, 2000, XP
V7.2: Mac OS X; Linux
Opera
Opera proclaims itself as the fastest web browser on the market. Opera uses less memory and less disk space on your hard drive than competing browser applications, which is great for slower or older computers. Opera's download is as small as 4.6mb compared to nearly 30mb for Netscape 7 or up to 75mb for MSIE 6) It is very customizable with some great options that can be changed on the fly like: accepting or rejecting popups; enabling or disabling cookies; and enabling or disabling various multimedia settings. Opera is available for a very wide array of operating systems including Nokia, Psion and Sony Ericsson cell phones.
As of Opera v8.5, desk top versions of Opera (e.g. Windows, Mac, Linux) are completely free (no toolbar ads and no registration fee).
V9.02: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4.0, 2000, XPV9.02: LinuxV9.02: FreeBSDV9.02: SolarisV9.02: Mac OS/XOpera is also available for a wide range of hand held devices.
Safari
Safari marks Apple Computer's entry into the Web browser market and is the reason why Microsoft has discontinued development of MSIE for the Mac platform. We have not tried this browser, but we included it as we do expect it to become the browser of choice for the Mac community just as MSIE has become the browser of choice for Windows users.
V1.2: Mac OS X 10.3+
[Last updated: 2006-11-06]
