h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Gosho,

A useful and informative article. Can't argue with anything in it except to ask why isn't it in Peer Review?

Just one observation though. Another way to reduce the risk of spreading an E-mail Virus is not to use Outlook at all. There are some very good E-mail alternatives available. I use Eudora which is free providing you can stand a little bit of advertising. The same principle as you explained in your preamble regarding using an Apple computer.

Yes, Zone Alarm is very good. I bought the commercial version. The problem is that this version it does need a little more tweaking, otherwise it can end up stopping things that you do want. Connecting to an external Extranet was a pain but I sussed it in the end.



Stuart

Hello Stuart. Thanks for your comments.

I put it into the writing workshop rather than PR because I'm looking for help on details of operating systems and software progams I don't have experience of. I've only used Windows 98 and XP Home you see, and need to know if certain instructions are any different in 95, NT, or ME. I'm fairly knowledgable about some areas of the subject, but by no means a computer whizz. I have IE and OE 6, but I know that some people will be using older versions, and the instructions for those may be different. Microsoft has quite a penchant for moving things around each time it releases the latest version of its software.

I want to aim the entry at those who use use Microsoft systems and software as they are by far the biggest share of the market and provide the biggest share of the problem. I'm going to add something about alternative browsers and email clients at some point - Mozilla for instance, a free and open-source version of Netscape without all that ghastly registration business.

I plan to try out Eudora now that we have a shiny new laptop - the old desktop would have an apoplexy if I tried to load yet more large programs onto it. It's very old, very slow, has a very small hard drive, not a whole lot of RAM, and is already quite full. I've already ditched IE in favour of Opera on the laptop.

Haven't felt the need to buy the commercial version of Zone Alarm yet, though I'd like to help them financially at some point.