Sharing Wares #3

Textpad

Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT--Shareware - $27

Isn't it annoying how Microsoft Word or Wordpad adds all that garbage to your HTML code, and makes it totally unreadable for Netscape? How about how Notepad removes all of your line breaks every now and again and turns your beautiful coding into one long line of garble? The happy medium has been found. It is a pure ASCII text editor, and doesn't add one single character to your code. It has no problem with line breaks, or handling Windows, Mac or UNIX file formats. On top of the functionality, the creators bundled it into a comfortable package, with search and replace capabilities, a spell-checker, macros, and many of the other features you would find in today's word processors. But the key is that Textpad is not a word processor. It is just a text editor. When you push Save, it saves it only as an ASCII text document. Nothing more, nothing less. I have been using Textpad as my only "HTML editor" for almost two years now, and it's one of the most accessed programs on my hard drive. If you do any kind of scripting, be it HTML, JavaScript, Perl, or whatever, there is no better "development environment" available.

WinAmp/MacAmp

Windows/MacIntosh--Shareware - $10

Okay, I'm not going to get into the great MP3 (MPEG Layer-3 sound compression format, for those of you who don't know) debate. They are ripping off the artist and companies. But the fans enjoy them. But they hog up bandwidth. But they sound so good. Whatever. If you want to download them and enjoy them, feel free. To play them, however, you need an MP3 player. There is no doubt about it, WinAmp is that player. I have been using it for months, and I haven't had one error or problem whatsoever. That is even more impressive when you realize that MP3 is a fairly experimental format, with very loose standards as of this point. WinAmp is efficient, inconspicuous, super high quality, and easy to run. The best part, though, is that the developers are so into it, new bugfixes and upgrades seem to come out every week or two. Version 2.0 is on its way, according to their webpage. They are also polishing up MacAmp, WinAmp's younger brother, for "the rest of you." If you are going to get into MP3s, go and download it. Pay the $10 (these shareware developers REALLY deserve your bucks), and enjoy a happy and fruitful life playing MP3s.

Adobe Acrobat Reader

Windows/MacIntosh--Freeware

Though many industry experts have questioned Adobe's thought processes, over the past year or so the software giant has focused its energies on promoting its Acrobat document format, rather than its immense library of products, which includes Photoshop and Illustrator. The format, which has confused many web users with its pdf file extension, has quickly become the standard for downloading static documents over the Web. Using the Acrobat creation software (which is not free), documents can be created like they would look printed out. Abode calls it "the best way to keep the look and feel you created intact." If you intend to be part of the Internet community, this software is a necessity. If you do a lot of downloading on the Web, it is hard to go very long without clicking on a link and finding a pdf file staring you in the face. Besides, it is free. There's no reason not to download it. Humor the corporate suits at Adobe, and get some functionality in the process.