Anyone who has used the built-in Windows 98/NT telnet client can tell you how bad it is. Windows 2000 brought some improvements, but it doesn't have a built-in SSH client. Putty is a free telnet, SSH and Secure FTP client for Windows. It supports colored text, session logging and X-11 forwarding, and is Socks-proxy compatible. Some people, including Mike Fratto, prefer TeraTerm Pro, though it hasn't been updated since 1999. We've also heard people describe SimpTerm as the least-bad Windows terminal emulator, but it doesn't support SSH. Suggested by Lori MacVittie. Platform: Windows. Price: Freeware, open source (MIT license). www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/
OpenOffice.org
Microsoft Office is the 800-pound gorilla of office suites, but it has two major problems: It doesn't run on Linux or Solaris, and it's expensive. OpenOffice.org (OOo) is a multiplatform, free and open-source alternative. The suite includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software, drawing program, math-formula editor and HTML Editor (in the Windows version). The interface looks similar to Microsoft Office, and OOo can open, save or translate Office documents, though there are some limitations to this capability. For example, you can't use Office macros or open password-protected files. Despite its smaller feature set, OOo does a pretty good job. Some of our tech editors use it exclusively, not touching Office for months at a time and yet avoiding the wrath of their Office-using editors. And remember that OOo, though often associated with Linux, does work well on Windows. Suggested by Greg Nicolas, Network Computing reader. Platform: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, others. Price: Freeware, open source (LGPL). www.openoffice.org
Cygnus Productions Password Corral
How many passwords do you have? Given that different systems and Web sites have varying rules--some require special characters or accept only alphanumerics, others won't let you use a previous password--some people, even those who should know better, have taken to writing down their passwords in a plain-text file just to keep track of them. Password Corral lets you do the same, but a bit more securely. You enter your passwords, and all the information is encrypted against a single password of your choice. You can even use the product to store voicemail or PDA passwords. Suggested by Steven J. Schuchart. Platform: Windows. Price: Freeware. www.cygnusproductions.com/freeware/pc.asp
Lavasoft Ad-aware
Ad-aware is the leading tool for removing spyware (applications that report usage habits without the user's knowledge) and adware (which randomly displays advertisements on your computer). These programs are often installed via system vulnerabilities or bundled by unethical shareware vendors. Many times, users have no knowledge of the spyware on their systems. Ad-aware detects and removes these undesirables. Suggested by Ron Anderson; Steven J. Schuchart; Brent Nichols, Network Computing reader. Platform:
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