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Mac Daniel's Advice

Free Internet Access for Mac Users

Evan Kleiman - 2000.11.01

Talk about bad timing. About the same time we posted this article about Freeinternet.com, they went into bankruptcy and had their assets acquired by NetZero.

Back to the drawing board. Click here for the replacement article.

Q. Do you know of any free Internet service providers for the Mac?

A. Right now free Internet service is the biggest thing around. In fact, the second biggest Internet service provider around (right behind AOL) is NetZero, a free service. However, only a few free ISPs have made software that is compatible with the Mac, and at this time NetZero is not one of them.

The two biggest free ISPs were Freeinternet.com and Freewwweb. Unfortunately, Freewwweb was recently bought out by Juno and is no longer around. The only half decent provider left is Freeinternet.com.

Freeinternet.com has many features that other Internet providers have, too. Features such as an Instant Messaging program, free email, and free news and weather are all included. Also included are a free web page designing program and free web space. Best of all, the Freeinternet.com program itself is only 868k!

But you always get what you pay for, and Freeinternet.com still needs to make money. Whenever you are connected to the Internet, there will be a small window at the bottom of your screen showing ads. Other than this, Freeinternet.com is a very reliable, fast, free provider.

Other free Internet providers for the Mac are coming soon. One such service is Blue Light free access, a service run by Kmart and Yahoo.

Also, be sure to check out Addlebrain.com. This site is the best resource when it comes to free Internet. They have comprehensive reviews of many free Internet services. However, 99% of them are PC only.

Free Internet providers always have a catch, and it seems with most of these providers, the main catch is it just won't work on a Mac. But if you can bear some minor annoyances on the bottom of your screen, you may be a candidate for free Internet access. If you can wait for more and better free Internet access for the Mac, then you're better off.

Time will tell if free Internet access is for everyone.

Evan Kleiman has been writing for Low End Mac since January 1999. He also runs his own site, Evansite. Evan uses an iMac, along with some vintage hardware. You can read more about his computing experience in The Many Macs of Evan Kleiman.

Not sure if you should upgrade your old Mac or replace it? Check the Mac Daniel index to see if we've already addressed your problem.

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