Notes
Contents
To clarify the different software categories, checkout the GNU Project's www / local 'Categories of Free and Non-Free Software' www / local
Software licencing terms that will apply to you
Software falls under the particular licencing restrictions imposed by the authors of that software. To help you understand their licencing terms, most people licence their software within these categories:
Free software; free to use; free to distribute; free to alter;
Freeware; distributed free, no charge for the software. Some functions may be disabled until you pay money. Software written often by a small number of people
Shareware; you can receive free and use for free but should pay some money, the terms for this differ, some licence you to use it for an evaluation period after which the software will still work but you are entitled top pay, others give you buttons to press every time you run the program which will not prompt you when you have registered. Some functoins may be disabled until you pay money. Software written often by a small number of people
Commercial; pay before you use, often lots of money. Software authors can be extremely large companies, for example, Microsoft is a multinational billion dollar(US) company; 3 of the 10 wealthiest people (on paper) in the USA are Microsoft employees
Conventions Used
naming conventions of the Toolbox itself take the form 'major version number' . 'sub version number' . 'minor change number'
DOS file names and directory names in documentation are often written in Terminal font so as to differenciate them from the rest of the text
software we recommend has been virus checked with the latest version of F-Prot (with latest virus definition file) available at the time
64-bit versions of software are not included
we give sub-directories names with as much information as possible so as to be self explanatory, taking the form:
program name and version number (language) (description) [software environment it is written for]
-
where [software environment it is written for] will include Windows version and anything else of importance
95 - Windows 95
98 - Windows 98 - either first or second edition, there isn't room to always mention 'fe' and 'se' separately
98fe - Windows 98 First Edition - when software is written for use with the first edition in particular then it will be mentioned
98se - Windows 98 Second Edition - when software is written for use with the second edition in particular then it will be mentioned
me - Windows Millenium
nt4 - Windows NT 4
2k - Windows 2000
xp - Windows XP
2k3 - Windows 2003 Server
cmnd-ln - Windows Command-Line, the MS-DOS emulation but not actual MS-DOS
sp# - Service Pack and number
+ - and later versions of the same thing
where (language) would take the following form
int - internationalised - a number of different languages are available
or any of a number of standard abbreviations for different languages and dialects
our documentation is in one of the following formats: plain text (that which has an extension .TXT); hypertext markup language (.HTM or .HTML); Portable Document Format (.PDF); Rich Text Format (.RTF) (as opposed to Microsoft Word's .DOC format, Because a) the ethernet address of the network card (if present) doesn't seem to be embedded into RTF files as it is in DOC files as part of Microsoft's 'Unique Identifier' (which makes a document traceable to an individual computer); and b) distributing RTF documents doesn't blatantly promote the use Microsoft's Word program in order for them to be read)
For the concepts embodied in the Toolbox that are new to you, it is sought to source the most bias-free and conclusive introduction to the subject possible
TERMS
%WINDIR%- an environment variable. Represents the name of the directory in which you have installed the Windows operating system. This name can change from system to system but if we use this convention (and you can even often use it when you type directory paths) then we always refer to the same location on all systems%APPDATA%- an environment variable. Represents the name of the 'Application Data' directory in which programs can store configuration data. This name can change from system to system but if we use this convention (and you can even often use it when you type directory paths) then we always refer to the same location on all systemsWin9x - both Windows95 and Windows98
win32 - a common language for programmers to use, which is adhered to by Windows 95, 98, Me and NT. if a program conforms to win32 then it should work across all those flavours of the Windows operating system
cmnd-ln - command-line - software that works at the command-line under Windows rather than as a graphical program (runs in a DOS window but will not in native DOS without Windows)
B - Byte
b - bit (8 bits make 1 Byte)
MB - MegaByte
KB - KiloByte
CD - Compact Disc
CD-ROM - CD reader
CD-R - CD writer
CD-RW - CD re-writer
Disc - CD in particular
Disk - media such as hard disk and floppy disk
MS-DOS - Microsoft disk operating system
Advice for Installing Software
install into a directory name with just the name of the program, rather than the name of the author then a sub-directory with the name of the program; leave out version numbers unless you want multiple different versions installed concurrently
Close all open applications before installation, and perhaps the more unstable memory resident programs if possible
Closing anti-virus software will speed up installation but lay you open to viral infection
(with Windows 95/98/Me) Unless you know the software is written well enough or definately doesn't require it, restart Windows when the software has installed, even if not requested to do so
General Tips
the program 'KILLCMOS' might show up in an anti-virus check as virus infected but this is OK as it is intentionally malicious software, intended for initialising the CMOS when something goes wrong. Similarly, Hidden will be highlighted by F-Prot for having 'hidestd.component', as the program is intended to hide running pprograms, which some viruses might choose to do.
Software Incompatibilities With Specific Versions Of Windows
Some software authors don't claim their software is compatible with various versions of Windows when it could potentially be because they haven't the resources to test it with these versions of Windows. We know of the following:
GIMP - version 2.0 should be a lot more stable than 1.2.x on Windows 9x but due to lack of testing its recommended to use Windows NT4/2k/XP and not to request help from the packager if it doesn't work on 95, 98 or Me
F-Prot for Windows - no longer advertised as working with Windows 95 in the release notes. The last version that claimed compatibility was either 3.14a or b. Frisk say "We have in regards of the Microsoft Product Life-Cycle Policy (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle.mspx) made a decision that we will stop supporting F-Prot Antivirus on Windows 95 systems. Licensed F-Prot Antivirus users with Windows 95 computers will continue to receive support and the program will continue to run for their entire license period. However, later this year we will release a new version, 4.0, in which we can no longer support Windows 95. Thus we no longer offer a Windows 95 version, although technically it can still be used on Windows 95."
Blender - no longer advertised as working with Windows 95, no link to an older version for Windows 95
Ethereal - no longer advertised as working with Windows 95, no link to an older version for Windows 95 - we mailed them asking which is the most recent version to work with Windows 95 (see http://www.ethereal.com/lists/ethereal-users/200406/msg00114.html) but received no reply
Some software authors provide specific versions for particular versions of Windows, some of these aren't on disc 1
OpenOffice - version 1.0.3.1 is the last version developed for use with Windows 95. Because of a lack of space this version is on disc 2.
As many software applications cease their support for Windows 95, we're only retaining older copies of such applications where it is plausible people would use that functionality on Windows 95, for example a word processor would be retained but not server software.