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Discusses computer security. Development of software to protect Internet users from computer fraud; Importance of antivirus programs; Ability of Web sites to track users' Internet use habits; Importance of firewalls; Evaluation of various computer security software packages. INSETS: Security Advice From a Pro, by Sean Captain;Portable Security Tool Kit;Your Next Virus Infection, by Sean Captain.

Discusses the benefits and drawback of virtual drive services. Description of virtual drive services, which offer password-protected drives that are accessible from any Internet-connected computer; Description of their size and speed; Features of virtual drives, which allow for various ways of file sharing and include wireless phone options; Evidence which suggests that virtual drives often are unreliable.

Provides a listing of the best free Windows utilities on the Internet. Make shortcuts do more with Winx32; Save disk space with Diskdata; Magnify your screen with Screen Loupe for Windows 95/NT 3.5; Secure your files with CodedDrag 1.52; Get Microsoft's Hidden Stash, Part 1 with PowerToys; Edit text with Super NoteTab; Maximize your clipboard with Yankee Clipper Plus; Hide your Windows with OuttaSight; Open zip files instantly with EZip Wizard. INSETS: Fileworld;Six steps for smart downloading.

Introduces a series of articles on the best free stuff on the Internet.

The article focuses on issues that wireless subscribers should consider to determine if an unlimited plan is suitable for them. It reveal a price competition among cellphone service providers in the U.S., including AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile, that had them offering a $100 per-month unlimited call plans. Sue Marek of wireless-industry journal "FierceWireless" noted that these plans are only suitable for consumers that primarily use their phones for calling purposes. Some of the factors that subscribers need to consider include coverage, the phones that go with the plan and Internet capability or access.

Shares the author's knowledge of companies and products involved in the broadcast of radio programs over the Internet. Sound quality of such broadcasts; Availability of various types of music; Probability that Internet radio will not threaten conventional radio.

Details the author's experience using an Internet-capable Motorola Star-Tac phone and Verizon's Internet service for shopping. Challenge of making Web sites accessible to phone; Suggestion that the wireless Web works best for quick bits of information like stock quotes; Mention of voice-recognition technology.

Focuses on web sites and applications that allow Internet users to build customized web pages and browsers. Web site Quickbrowse.com; Octopus application at www.octopus.com; OnePage and DataBites, which are similar to Octopus; Description of the personal information management capabilities of Enfish's Onespace application.

Reports on the advantages and disadvantages of free Internet service providers (ISP). Reader letters in response to an evaluation by 'PC World' of free ISPs; Benefits of pay providers; Services offered by free and pay ISPs; Monitoring of Internet use by some free ISPs; Web sites from which free ISPs can be downloaded. INSETS: On the Net...;GIMME FIVE.

Discusses innovative Internet search engines which make use of the human brain. People-driven searching, which allows visitors to ask questions in plain English and post them on a message board so that others can respond; Live representatives which assist in searches; Sites which offer this feature. INSETS: On the Net...;GIMME FIVE.

Provides a listing of the best free software sites on the Internet. Creativity tools with MediaBuilder; Personalizing Microsoft Office wtih Microsoft Office Free Stuff; Site for polite software with Nonags.

The author points out that free online services have drawbacks too. He claims that in 1997, the notion of a digital universe filled with freebies seemed like crazy talk. The author says users just have to choose their free tools wisely so they could be as happy and productive as people who pay for traditional software. He stresses that the more people come to depend on free services, the more they will discover that they really cannot.

The author talks about the computer software. According to the author, computer applications today are service that exist in the Internet and not in the hard drive of a computer. The author stated that Web services allows Internet users to access their documents from any personal computer (PC). The author also talked about three innovative web applications including Remember the milk, a task manager.

In this article, the author explores the trends on the World Wide Web in 2007. The author highlights the increasing usefulness of the Web due to upstart services for everything from crunching numbers to seeking advice on technical matters. He observes that services such as Zoho's productivity tools can act so much like traditional productivity programs despite living in a Web browser. However, the author concludes that technology may not be the biggest obstacle preventing the Net reaching its Maximum Usefulness Quotient.

The author reflects on the effectiveness of the new beta 2 editions of Microsoft's Vista and Office 2007 software products. Clarity, Microsoft says, is a key Vista goal. But if consistency is a component of clarity, Vistabeta 2 still skews fuzzy. Everything from Computer to Windows Photo Gallery to Internet Explorer 7 does away with traditional menus, but each replaces them with something slightly different and it is not always clear what was objectionable about menus in the first place. Office 2007 is a different story. With dozens of toolbars, hundreds of menu items and thousands of features, its interface buckled long ago under the sheer weight of the suite's features. Office 2007 replaced most standard menus and toolbars with the tabbed, visual Ribbon.

The article comments on the revival of the Web's free services. Many sites and services are built on existing open-source code which gives their developers a big head start. Aside from the automated advertising networks offered by Google and others that let sites subsidize themselves with advertisements, the cost of disk space has shrunk. Smart freeloaders should keep several tips in mind, including the consideration to upgrade to fee-based versions of tools since the mortality rate for these sites, services and software is likely to remain high.

The article reports on the arrival of the day of the video download on the Internet. Every once in a while, a technological development switches into fast-forward mode without warning. If you downloaded a TV show across the Internet on October 11, 2005, chances are you were cheerfully trampling on some media giant's copyright. One day later Apple introduced a video-capable iPod and $1.99 downloads of a few programs, such as "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost." All of a sudden, the phrase legal TV downloads was no longer an oxymoron. Just a few months later, they are not only a reality, they are a booming trend. Apple now offers more than 40 TV series, and it has acquired an archrival in Google, which is now hawking a hodgepodge of everything.

Evaluates the Audiovox SMT5600. Text entry provided by SMT; Web capabilities of the cell phone; Internet applications of SMT.

This article provides information on two browsers. Mozilla Firefox and Opera are full of tools to make browsing less taxing. These two are safe from Internet Explorer (IE)-specific glitches. Some of those holes are serious enough that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's computer security division has publicly mused about the benefits of switching. Back when the browser war raged, IE received frequent upgrades. Only when a bundled-with-Windows IE conquered the market did it start to calcify. Netscape created an open-source version, Mozilla, that third-party developers could reinvent. Firefox is an uncommonly polished product. For instance, searching for a phrase in a Web page could not be simpler. Just start typing the word, and Firefox scrolls forward to find it. And tabbed browsing, which lets users wrangle multiple Web pages in one window, feels like an essential feature that IE never got around to implementing. Meanwhile, Opera is more inventive than Firefox. For example, it has a Really Simple Syndication newsreader and a nifty little note-taker built in.

Evaluates the GoToMyPC Internet-based remote-control service from Expertcity. Key features; Software to be used with the product; Target market of the product; Price.

Introduces several articles on finding online help. Difficulty understanding and searching help files.

Offers advice to consumers whose free Internet services initiate fees. Suggestion that one should be prepared to switch services; How big name companies are less likely to cancel their free services; Suggestion to consider how much a service is worth.

Offers news related to the Internet. Recommendations for Internet radio stations offered by readers of 'PCWorld' magazine, including Launchcast and Incanta; Advice to users of Disney's Go.com, which has gone out of business.

Offers news briefs related to the Internet. Web sites that will register any available domain name for free; Internet companies that will send unsolicited e-mail messages with subject lines that address the Internet user by name.

Offers news briefs relating to Internet Web sites that sell current technology as of October 2000. EdgeReview, which evaluates MP3 players, remote controls and other technological items; The Imaging Resource, which sells digital cameras; Tucows PDA, which sells palmtop software; Others.

Offers news briefs relating to the Internet as of September, 2000. Cease of operations of Freewwweb and WorldSpy, which were free Internet providers; Discussion of the integration of certain PlanetAll services with Amazon.com; Description of MuBu.com, which lets the user rate music clips and then recommends artists and CDs; Description of WebCheck, which searches the Internet using text from any application.

Presents news briefs related to the Internet as of September 2000. Innovative interface of the WebBrain search engine; Services offered on the Internet, including lawn mowing and grocery shopping; Trend of Web sites to change their free services to pay services.

Provides a listing of the best places to find drivers. Shareware 95; Frank Condron's World O' Windows; Drivers Headquarters; Microsoft Software Library Directory.

Provides a listing of the best free browser plug-ins on the Internet. Make your personal computer sound great with RealPlayer 5.0; Plug into radio stations with RealAudio Tuner; Cheap phone service with PhoneFree 2.0; Tools that produce highly interactive Web page animations with Shockwave Plug-In 6.0.