Internet Assistant

Internet Assistant -- As great as the idea of a Word Processor/Web Browser/HTML Editor combination sounds, the result, at least from Microsoft, fails to deliver. Unless you have an ultra-fast Pentium loaded with RAM, the ever-slow WinWord will only get slower after adding Internet Assistant. With an outdated 486 and less than sufficient RAM (8 Megs or less), this application literally crawls. I tried using a stop-watch to time how long it would take to access a page in Finland, but I fell asleep twenty minutes later :-) Seriously, though, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to use this client unless you have a high-end system. And in this case, you will probably be better off with Internet Explorer and a standalone HTML editor. Still, the newest release of Internet Assistant for Windows 95 has definitely made some impressive strides in becoming a competitive player. In addition to picking up a moderate performance boost, the client has added a ton of new features, including centering, tables, font size, and similar tags; support for Microsoft Internet Explorer HTML extensions (marquee text, watermarks, inline video, super and subscript, background sounds, etc.); background color and picture support; JavaScript compatibility; view HTML source command; and more. Even with all these New features, Internet Assistant still lacks features found in many of the competitors' products, including support for transparent gifs, advanced tables support, null borders, client side image mapping, image height and width, Netscape 2.0 extensions, and global font sizing capability. If Internet Assistant would add these features and improve its speed even more, it might become a viable download for most users, but for now it is simply too slow and lacking in too many features to be Considered a competitive candidate in the HTML Editor/Web Browser arena. Pros: The original Word Processor/Web Browser/HTML Editor combo! Cons: Still quite sslllooooowwwwwww; anything less than a Pentium will crawl New: Bulleting functionality, JavaScript compatibility, relative paths, more Version Reviewed: Windows 3.x - 1.0 beta B. Windows 95 - 2.03 Beta Date of Review: 6/27/96 Reviewer: Forrest Stroud apps conference Main Menu