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| Finding on-line help, updates, and information |
By Terry Lawrence, program director
MacWest Computer Society,
Vancouver. British Columbia
One of the best things about the Internet is that you can find hundreds of sites offering free online help, free utilities for diagnosing and fixing your problems, and software for virtually any possible interest from beekeeping to astronomy. The internet is filled with Macintosh web sites, many of them commercial enterprises, who nonetheless provide free assistance and software for Mac users. All you have to do is find them. This article lists five of the most useful ones along with their URL’s (web addresses that you enter into your Search criteria box). Each of these five websites have links to many more. Once you have found their home page, save it as a Bookmark in Netscape Communicator, as a Favorite in Internet Explorer, or as a Hotlist item in the iCab web browser). Then move it into the toolbar folder so it will always be handy on the toolbar at the top of your web browser.
Apple resources. URL: http://www.apple.com/support/
Apple Computer is the single most important web site for Mac users. The Apple software updates and support pages list almost all current and past versions of Apple software for download, along with detailed descriptions of 1001 problems and fixes in the Apple Technical Information Library (TIL). The Apple website also lists some current links to third party programs and updates on it’s Hot News page. This is your first stop for updating any Apple software such as Mac OS upgrades, Quicktime, Color Sync, Open Transport, etc. You can also use the TIL for troubleshooting your problems, and keep up with the latest Apple news and announcements on the Hot News.
Info-Mac. URL: http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/HyperArchive.html
Info-Mac is a huge library of Macintosh software available for download and organized by categories such as Games, Science, Utilities, Word Processing, etc. This is a good place to shop for new software. You can find plenty of Freeware and Shareware to try out, and Demos of many commercial products, especially games. If your kid is continually whining at you to buy new games, try looking here for free ones. Info-Mac has literally hundreds of games available for free download.
MacInTouch. URL: http://www.macintouch.com/
The MacInTouch website is a central clearing house for all things Macintosh which is updated daily. Virtually every new Mac software update or program is posted immediately upon release on the MacInTouch and MacFixIt websites with links to the home pages for download. But the MacInTouch website is much more than just a list of new software and updates. You can find daily news, reports, and discussion about all new developments in the Mac arena, and expert reviews of new products with world wide reader feedback on each new product.
The MacInTouch website also maintains ongoing reader forums on many specific new software and hardware products which are continually updated. For example, Mac OS 9 Troubleshooting, Orb Drives, Norton Utilities 5, Tech Tools Pro, CD burners, iMac DV’s, G4’s, USB & Firewire devices, and many other newly introduced pieces of equipment or software are subjected to close scrutiny from MacInTouch’s world wide readership, and problems and fixes are posted to the forums and main pages daily. This is where you can review the performance of that new software program, update, or hardware you are thinking of purchasing before you spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on it.
Finally, the MacInTouch and MacFixIt websites maintain large databases of all kinds of Freeware and Shareware fix-it utilities, and archives of their past daily reports. Want to see what is happening on your SCSI chain? Download the free SCSI Probe. Want double scroll arrows at both ends of your scroll bars and proportional scroll bars? Download the free Prestissimo program. Etc., etc. You can also use the archives to follow back the thread of a discussion on that new program or equipment you were going to purchase, and see what other purchasers thought of it after they had used it for a while.
MacFixIt. URL: http://www.macfixit.com/
The MacFixIt site is almost identical to the MacInTouch site, although it is a bit more oriented toward problem solving as opposed to reviewing new developments. I usually look at both every day, as they cover things from a slightly different perspective, and sometimes one will mention things not covered by the other. Either MacInTouch or MacFixIt will keep you up to date, but if you are a real Mac news junkie, read both daily.
Version Tracker. URL: http://www.versiontracker.com/
Version Tracker is where you go to find the latest version of every possible Mac program posted for download. Commercial demos, Shareware, Freeware, updates and fixes; it’s all posted here in an easy to find format with links to key catagories and a huge archive of Mac software.
For example, all the OS 9 updates for various third party programs are posted in a single OS 9 archive, so all you have to do to find the updates you need is click the OS 9 link, review the list for updates to any programs you have installed on your Mac, and then download and install the updates. Ditto for Y2K fixes. Like the other archives we have already discussed, Version Tracker groups it’s archives by categories such as Utilities, Productivity, Word Processing, Shareware, Freeware, etc.
Finally, there is our own MacWest BBS, where Scott and Mark are working hard to keep you up to date. The best part of all this is, you don’t have to go out in the snow to get it. Happy shopping.
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