Best of the Web 2001

Downloads

Art to Go

ArtToday

The Web is bursting with free clip art. So why are we recommending a fee-based site? Quantity and usability. ArtToday has thousands of illustrations, photos, and Web animations.

Keyword searching simplifies finding the art you seek--be it a cartoon kangaroo or a portrait of Einstein. ArtToday is free for three days; after that, it's $30 a year (for access to some 870,000 items) or $100 (over 1.2 million items).

Runner-Up: Ansel Adams photos, New Yorker cartoons, and other classy content make Corbis the Rolls-Royce of art sites--but its per-item prices start at $3 for home use and $8 for businesses.

-- Harry McCracken

Downloads

Download.com

We're naturally biased toward our own download section, which has a large library of carefully selected files. But to keep things fair, we excluded ourselves and went for the site with the greatest breadth--Download.com at CNet. The site has files for Windows, Windows CE, DOS, Palm, Macintosh, Linux, and even BeOS.

Runner-Up: Softpile.com offers a clean layout and fast searches; however, the site's selection is small.

-- Emru Townsend

Palms Down

Tucows

With vast libraries of software downloads for virtually any PDA, Tucows is a winner. And an array of local mirror sites in almost every state and country significantly decreases download times.

Runner-Up: PalmGear.com hosts an extensive collection of Palm OS software, news, tips, and forums.

-- Michael S. Lasky

Music Downloads

ArtistDirect

Napster may get all the press, but nothing outclasses Artist Direct for atmosphere. The music site features band information, links to official and fan Web sites, discographies, and legal free downloads (from artists such as Black Crowes and Sophie B. Hawkins). This site is a treasure trove for new discoveries.

Runner-Up: With a straightforward home-page design reminiscent of Yahoo, MP3.com is another great place to find new and unsigned musical talent.

-- Emru Townsend

Software Tune-Ups

Tech Tracker

TechTracker is a collection of sites that monitor application and driver updates for Windows and Palm operating systems. The site's WindowsTracker.com lists 7000 applications and drivers, while PalmTracker.com catalogs close to 2000 apps.

Runners-Up: DriversHQ and WinDrivers.com list more drivers than TechTracker does, but no applications. WinDrivers.com, however, lists Linux drivers.

-- Alan Stafford