Discover These Lesser-Known Web and E-Mail Tools

Web Browsers

Of these five browsers, the first two also do e-mail, while the others offer their own interesting features and advantages.

Opera

The Opera browser is free, filled with features, and fast. Opera combines tabbed browsing and e-mail in one surprisingly clean, yet highly customizable interface.

Like IE and Firefox, Opera's browser blocks pop-ups, accepts plug-ins, remembers your online passwords, and lets you subscribe to RSS newsfeeds and easily download .torrent files using the program's built-in support for the BitTorrent protocol. The latest version adds a welcome antiphishing tool, but you'll need to turn it on (look for Enable Fraud Protection in the Security section on the Advanced tab in Preferences).

Opera's e-mail interface supports POP3 and IMAP servers, lets you create incoming message rules and assign Gmail-like labels, and finds and filters spam. I particularly like the way Opera puts the most commonly-accessed settings (like pop-up blocking) in a Quick Preferences menu, and the way everything--Web pages, e-mail, RSS feeds, and BitTorrent transfers--lives in its own tabbed page. The latest version even bundles desktop widgets--including BitTorrent search, clocks, games, and news and weather tickers--that appear on your desktop as long as Opera is running. About the only thing Opera lacks in order to replace both your browser and your PIM is a calendar module.

SeaMonkey

SeaMonkey has an interesting pedigree--it's descended from one of the very first Internet suites.

Back in the day, Netscape Communicator ruled the Web with its handily integrated browser, e-mail, and HTML authoring tools. Then Internet Explorer took over, and Netscape withered away, becoming an America Online brand. (Find a version with integrated mail and Web authoring, Netscape 7.2, in our Downloads library. Note that the current Netscape 8.1.2 omits the mail reader and HTML authoring; AOL plans to include them once again in its upcoming Netscape 9.)

The open-source Mozilla Foundation handed off development of the old Netscape suite to a group of volunteers, who continue to produce updated versions under the SeaMonkey name. The latest one uses the same HTML rendering engine as Firefox 2.0, blocks pop-ups, fills in Web forms, and remembers passwords.

SeaMonkey's mail program likewise shares many features with the latest version of Mozilla's Thunderbird e-mail program, including Gmail-like tags and antiphishing features. Plus, you get the WYSIWYG HTML editor, Composer, all bundled into an old-school package guaranteed to take you back to 1997. I love the way SeaMonkey combines the familiar Netscape browser and mail interface with updated features like tabbed browsing and automatic updates.

Firefox Portable

Firefox Portable is the browser for nomads.

If you compute nomadically--that is, you work in multiple offices, dual-boot, or just can't figure out which system on your desk is your main computer--then you undoubtedly miss having all of your bookmarks, saved passwords, and history everywhere you go. One slick way to bring your browsing environment with you is to use a portable version of Firefox that runs from a USB drive. Thanks to the determined efforts of developer John Haller, you can download and install a free, customized version of Firefox 2, and install it on your thumb drive with a couple of clicks.

Some limitations apply--not every extension or plug-in will install or work correctly with Firefox Portable, and Java not at all. Firefox Portable developer John T. Haller explains this on his Web site, where he offers a whole suite of portable applications, including the Mozilla Foundation's Thunderbird e-mail program (see the E-Mail Programs page). I use Firefox Portable along with the Foxmarks bookmark synchronization extension (which works just fine in the portable version) to take my customized browsing environment with me wherever I go.

Avant Browser

Avant Browser enhances your copy of Internet Explorer--even if the version you use is IE 7.

Back when Internet Explorer was languishing without a major update, a few enterprising developers figured out how to build a tabbed interface and other missing amenities around IE's basic Web-page engine. Even today, Avant Browser is a boon to IE 6 users, adding much-needed tabbed browsing and newsfeed support. And the program improves on IE 7 with ad blocking, a flash animation filter, mouse gestures, and skins.

The program also lets you store your bookmarks, saved passwords, newsfeeds, and other configuration data online, allowing you to synchronize your browsing experience among multiple locations. I like the handy URL Alias feature that lets you launch frequently visited sites by typing short codes (like pcw) into the address field.

Maxthon

Like Avant Browser, Maxthon borrows Internet Explorer's basic features, while grafting on tabbed browsing and newsfeed support (for IE 6 users) and ad blocking, mouse gestures, and skins.

Maxthon also prepopulates the browser with handy newsfeeds and site- and content-specific plug-ins. (If you make a donation to Maxthon International, you can also enable a bookmark upload service.)

At the time of writing, the company had released a beta of version 2, featuring a cleaner program layout, a more customizable interface, and multiple user profiles. Maxthon includes a handy Flash Save utility that lets you download or block flash animations (such as YouTube videos) that are embedded in Web pages.