Monday, November 19, 2001		Downloads of the week

Anthrax! Who is not scared of this deadly bacterium that is being spread these days by post? Thank god, it has not affected the virtual world, as it is a problem of real world. But there are a lot of viruses that are related to the virtual world and are very deadly with their payload. Everyone is a potential target of the threat of these viruses of the virtual world. Though the threat is very large yet there is not much to worry about, as there is software that protects your PC from any such threat by working as a watchdog in the virtual world. One such software is SurfinGuard Pro. This is excellent software, which makes available a secured environment for your Internet-related activity and presence. This program works as a watchdog as well as detective by monitoring and proactively containing the behaviour of active content, by taking care of any malicious codes and contents, which may try to enter your computer through whatever means. This software blocks the viruses and worms, which could come as executables, scripting files, ActiveX and Java. You can also test any suspicious file for the presence of any virus, worms or Trojan horses. Therefore, in the present day world, this software is a must have for all computer users. This software is basically different from the regular virus scanners as it just does not hunts for the worms, Trojan horses present in your system, but it prevents the entry of known miscreants like viruses, worms, Trojan horses etc. to enter your computer at the first place. Therefore you can say that it remains updated as it targets malicious codes. In a way, you can say that this software works, before the anti-virus software comes into picture. Another good feature of this software is that it is highly flexible and can be customised to suit individual security needs and threats, by adjusting the security level depending upon the exposure of individual PC to the threat perception. There are several security modes and in case of emergency, this software also offers the panic mode to block all kinds of codes from execution. However, the best feature of this software is that it is free for private, non-commercial use. You can download this software from www.finjan.com.

No this is not about any popular soap opera running on the TV channel. This is about an Internet browser, which is being labelled as the fastest browser on the earth. Opera is an excellent and really fast browser, which can make browsing a lot more comfortable. This software is though available for free download but the free version comes with an Advertisement bar. However, for the version without advertisement, you will have to pay for it. As far as the features of this browser are concerned, it has some really cool value added features, which are not otherwise available in other Internet browsers like Netscape and Internet Explorer. One feature, specially liked by most is mouse gesture. Under this feature, you can open, close, minimise any open browser window, simply by some mouse movements. There are many other mouse gestures also, which can make browsing a trouble free exercise. Moreover, if you need to zoom out any of your searched contents, then luckily you will not need a magnifying glass to zoom out the contents and images, while using opera as you can simply use the zoom features to enlarge the contents by as much as 1000 per cent or 10 times the actual size. Though zooming out distorts the resolution yet this feature could be excellent in cases, where you need to observe your findings minutely. Opera is all about convenience and speed and there are many more features like, Multiple Windows, keyboard short cuts, integrated search, skins, e-mail and instant messenger, download manager etc. Overall, this browser is strongly recommended for at least a try and you never know, you may finally fell in love with it. Log on to www.opera.com to download this fastest browser on earth.

Earlier what was being labelled as the products for the corporates and big offices, has become a must have for even the individual computer user. Networking and firewalls are the two best examples of this fact. Given the threat perception in the cyber world today, the firewalls have become an order of the day. Now, having a firewall installed on your system is as necessary as any other software. However, the big question is how and where to find the firewalls. The simple answer is log on to www.tinysoftware.com  and download the software Tiny personal firewall. This is excellent software sufficient for the needs of individuals. This software is easy to install and use and thus does not require any special training and skills. Thus it is user-friendly software with a very simple interface and is trusted by over 2 million users worldwide. This Personal Firewall represents smart, easy-to-use personal security technology that fully protects personal computers against hackers. However, the best feature of this software is that it is free for individual use, however for business use it comes for a price. It is compatible with all versions of Windows, including Windows 9X, Me, 2000, NT etc.