Introduction

People have placed useful collections of files and programs in archives at various locations on the net, but obtaining them is a bit tricky. The following info may help to make the process easier. Downloading is often referred to as FTP (file transfer protocol), and on the Mac, the most popular shareware FTP program is called "Fetch." On the PC, a popular FTP program is "WS_FTP95." However, your Web Browser (Netscape, Internet Explorer, etc.) can also do FTP, and this is the most common way to download files nowadays. FTP software is still the preferred method for uploading files to a server however.

File Decompression

Get Stuffit Expander Get DropStuff

Have you ever gone camping? A sleeping bag is normally stored by hanging, but when you want to go on a trip, you stuff it into a stuff sack. That way it takes up less space and is easier to handle. Of course, you can't sleep in a compressed sleeping bag, so you have to unstuff it when you get to the campsite. File transfers across the Internet work in a similar way. Most files in software archives are compressed so that the slow transfer process goes faster. There are several different compression formats, but if you use a Mac, "Stuffit Expander" is a free program that can identify and decompress just about any Mac file. You can even set your Web Browser to automatically hand over the decompression job to Stuffit Expander and automate the download process. If you ever need to compress a file before sending it, another free program called "DropStuff" does the trick. If you have a PC file that Stuffit won't expand, try one of the various "unzip" utilities.

File Formats (for nerds only)

There are a number of common compression formats, but usually you don't need to worry about it because the decompression program will do the work for you. For the Mac there are BinHex (.hqx) and MacBinary (.bin) compression formats, Stuffit (.sit), Self-Extracting Archive (.sea), and Compact Pro (.cpt) archives. On the PC side, common file formats are Zip (.zip) and Executable (.exe). If you've downloaded a file, the icon or the name's three letter extension can give you clues about its format. If you are given a choice between downloading a MacBinary or BinHex file, just choose the option that is the most convenient for you. The MacBinary (.bin) version gives you a faster download, although sometimes Web browsers or servers are not configured for it. As a general rule, if you are using a browser that is version 4.0 or higher, use the MacBinary format when downloading. If you are using a browser that is version 3.0 or lower, use the Binhex (.hqx) format when downloading. If you download the MacBinary file and experience problems, you can download the Binhex version (a larger, less compressed file) instead. The software is the same in both MacBinary and Binhex. If the file is not decompressed automatically, you can manually extract it using Stuffit Expander.

.hqx or .bin	.sit	.sea	Generic Application	Folder

When you're ready to download an application program, try this...

1. Open your Web Browser and enter the following address (Check your spelling and capitalization!) or click on the link below. This site is the "InfoMac HyperArchive". If the HyperArchive site is too slow, try here for a list of good FTP sites.

2. Search with a keyword such as "music" or "multiplication" or "spelling" for example, or scroll down and browse the underlined subject categories that interest you.

3. Click on the Abstract of anything that sounds promising to get a brief written description of the item.

4. Click Download to begin the file transfer. (Note the file size in Kilobytes and date posted.)

5. If prompted, tell the Web Browser where to save the file that will be downloaded and click Save

6. A progress bar will briefly appear indicating that the download is proceeding. If your browser is set up properly, Stuffit Expander will automatically launch and decompress the file as soon as the download is complete. Watch the screen for messages to see what is happening.

7. When Stuffit is done, locate the downloaded file or folder and throw away any temporary files (.hqx, .bin or .sit) that are no longer needed but keep the folder with the application inside.

8. Run the newly downloaded application program. If you like it, save a copy. If you use it, pay the shareware license fee. (Read the "read me" file or choose "About this program" from the Apple menu for the details of the licensing agreement).