NetShark Lite -- NetShark Lite offers many cool features and does so at a very convenient price (the lite version is free and the commercial version is only $39.95). The app combines a sufficient web browser and a powerful mail client; unfortunately, both clients must be run separately of each other. The web browser offers interesting features like centering, interlaced graphics, page caching, multiple windows, and multiple hotlists, but it ultimately fails short, especially when compared to competitors like Netscape and Mosaic. First, NetShark offers limited configuration options. Even basic functions like changing the background color of the browser or modifying the cache size are missing. Second, NetShark lacks many features found in the better browsers including tables support (the 'Shark avoids these deep waters at all costs), Usenet newsreading, security, mailto support, and many of the increasingly prevalent 'Netscapisms'. With the availability of superior and free (or nearly free) browsers like Netscape and Mosaic, it's becoming much more difficult to recommend alternative web browsers; NetShark is no exception. NetShark's mail client fares better than its web browser, but not by much. The mail client offers cool features like advanced filtering (though not nearly as extensive as the filtering options of Pegasus Mail), multiple mailboxes, mail attachments, address books, and formatted characters (bold, italics, and underline). While the mail client does offer a few more features than typical integrated mail clients in packages like GNN Works and Quarterdeck's Internet Toolbox, it still trails far behind the power and multitude of standalone mail clients like Pegasus Mail, E-Mail Connection, and Eudora. Features lacking in the client include a spell checker, advanced mailing/distribution list options, message queuing, and advanced configuration options. Finally, the mail client and the web browser are both quite buggy at this stage in development. Even though NetShark Lite is available for free, I hesitate to recommend this app for anyone seeking the best available web browser or mail client. Pros: Integrated mail client and web browser with many desirable features Cons: Superior alternatives in both categories make NetShark a hard sell New: New external configuration manager (similar to Eudora), multiple signatures supported Version Reviewed: 1.1.3 Date of Review: 12/20/95 Reviewer: Forrest Stroud apps conference Main Menu