c|net online is an "integrated information source devoted to computers, multimedia, online services, and the ongoing digital revolution." It is a cable television station, an e-zine, and a huge Web site. If you are looking for reviews of software, information about electronic services, how-to guides or shareware, c|net is a great place to start.
The c|net home page provides your introduction to the variety of information offered. Much of it will look and feel like an electronic journal: standard features and columns are updated weekly. This is also the point where you can join. Don't be alarmed: the registration process is free. It does, however, require that you have a forms-capable browser. Becoming a member entitles you to participate in the discussion and chat areas, and will also put you on the mailing list for Digital Dispatch, a weekly newsletter that keeps you up to date on new reviews, URLs, resources and other interesting tidbits. Digital Dispatch comes as e-mail, and there are no plans to make it a Web publication. Given the size of c|net's large site, Digital Dispatch can be a real time saver in accessing points of special interest.
Among the most interesting offerings at c|net are the hands-on reviews. New reviews of products are posted regularly. The reviews provide lots of juicy details, from system requirements, to costs, how to order the products and/or how to contact the companies. Reviews are archived from June 1995.
The Hotlist will keep you about new or upgraded new products. These range from multimedia applications, to games, to hardware and online services. These are not product reviews; think of them instead as product announcements.
Another section of great value is shareware.com, a database of freeware and shareware. Shareware.com includes keyword searching that allows you to specify type of software (categories like sound and graphics) and platform (Mac or PC) desired. A handy section also lists recommendations for "must-have" titles. It is easy to download, once you have selected titles of interest; c|net even provides estimated download times for various modem speeds, and uses a star rating system that ranks the reliability of the various sites.
A handy navigational bar appears at the top and bottom of most pages. It allows you, with minor variations depending on where you are at any given moment, to access an image map of the whole site (the map appears as an outline, actually) a linked text overview, a table of contents, or extensive help pages. Of special interest: the Reference Desk, where you'll find hundreds of FAQs covering software and hardware issues for both Macs and PCs.
This site is well organized and full of useful tools and resources. The emphasis is on multimedia, and most of its pages are best enjoyed with a graphical browser like Netscape or Mosaic. C|net offers excellent search capabilities: from the main page, you can search the entire database, and as you get further into the resources, you can search within specific sections.