|
PureBytes Links
Trading Reference Links
|
At 12:55 PM 6/28/01 -0400, you wrote:
>: Disclaimer: I don't particularly like Micro$oft and in fact avoid
>: using many of its Internet products, like Outlook. Unfortunately,
>: there seems to be no real options for replacing IE as a Web-browser.
>
>
>Netscape? Eudora? Pegasus?
>
Andy,
Funny that you suggest other to try those other options, while you're
still using M$ Outlook for your own e-mail. I'm using Eudora (still
v2.2 since 1995) myself.
Having a fair amount of experience with all this stuff, I've written a
few comments (without going into "tech stuff") about what options I consider
best for the fellow traders in this list.
WEB BROWSER SOFTWARE
--------------------
As I wrote in the message quoted above, regarding Web browsing software,
I don't think that the average user and/or trader (since this is a
traders' list afterall ;-) has any real alternatives besides M$ IE.
Unfortunately, a great deal of Websites REQUIRE that you use M$ IE and
won't work well or WON'T WORK AT ALL with Netscape (pages won't load,
applets won't run, style-sheets won't work, the browser will crash etc).
Also, the development and bugfixing of Netscape's Web-browser has been
very problematic since it was taken over by AOL. This has lead many old-
time Netscape users to jump ship.
There are some alternatives for M$ IE, but none is ready for prime time.
CONCLUSION: I think a traders should just stick with M$ IE 5.0 (not 5.5
for the moment) and make sure to apply the latest security patches.
E-MAIL SOFTWARE
---------------
There are several options, which include:
Eudora http://www.eudora.com/
Pegasus http://www.pmail.com/
TheBat! http://www.ritlabs.com/the_bat/
NetscapeMail http://home.netscape.com/download/index.html
OutlookExpress/2000
I have used all of these email programs (and others) for at least a year
and some of them for about a decade.
If I were to recommend the one most suited for the needs of a trader
following the usual lists, I would suggest NetscapeMail (is integral
part of NetscapeCommunicator v4.7x, along with NetscapeNavigator, the
browser part).
NetscapeMail provides the combination of power, ease of use and
compliance with open standards (e.g. standard Unix-like mailbox
format like Eudora also does). It can deal with truly LARGE mailboxes,
both in size (>100MB) and number of mails (40,000). It understands HTML
in the email (a necessary evil in today's environment) and can display
attached GIF screenshots while viewing the message (won't decode and
save it to an "attachments" directory like Eudora does).
The complete URI to download Netscape for Win98/NT with the least hassle
is by getting it from
ftp://ftp.netscape.com/pub/communicator/english/4.77/windows/windows95_or_nt
/base_install/cb32d477.exe
the "base" version is the one without all the multi-media bells & whistles
like Cooltalk etc which you probably don't need anyway. And that way you will
have the option of using the Netscape Web-browser too (but see my comments on
browsers).
Regards, M
|