Dana Bell

In a Microsoft Windows world, there's a wealth of options to choose from for software. In our Internet world, there's also an ocean of free software you can use for surfing, messaging and searching the waves of the information superhighway.

Despite the wide range of choices, so many find and start using a single program and soon begin to swear by it, though they may have never used any of the competing applications. Don't do that. If you want to get the most from your software, computer and use of the internet look at them all.

Browsers
In the browser market, there are several viable options and most have been doing things that Microsoft is just now getting around to adding to their later Internet Explorer. To review the most widely used alternatives, check out these:

Firefox is Internet Explorer's stiffest competition. The browser is based Mozilla code and support a wealth of plug-ins. Search engines for Firefox are also easier to find. It's been using tabs for some time, though IE is just now getting around to add it to theirs.
Opera is another option. It is a lightweight browser that will work on some older PCs. There's also an Opera Mobile for you cell phone. Of course, it also uses tabs.
Slim Browser, Avant and Netscape are other options to look at.

Email
Email software is the same way. I avoided using Outlook from the beginning since it is so frequently targeted by malware. I've been using Pegasus for probably a decade. Some options are Thunderbird, Eudora, Opera Mail and web-based services. If you'd like, you can read about them at the Ice House, but my suggestion would be to try them out.

Search
The third most common internet "application" is your search engine, though its not really a client application. It is a choice you can make, however.
Google is probably the most popular search engine today. It is so popular that it's now a new word in the English vocabulary, and sites all over the world are littered with Ads by Google. For that and other reasons, I Don't Google. Instead, try Yahoo or Hakia. Other options are Ask and Dmoz.

With search bars in most new browsers, you can select a multitude of special purpose search engines for things like movies, weather, maps, and recipes. There's search-able dictionaries, encyclopedias, and wikis. If you have a web site, there's also a wide selection of applications you can use for your blog, forums, and other enhancements.

Spend a little more time and explore all your options. You'll learn more about what you can, and you'll probably learn more how to use the one you choose.