First as mentioned in past issues, the best browser and mail program for security and usability are FIREFOX and THUNDERBIRD
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/

How about expanding horizions for the new year. NVU is a free WUSWUG (what you see is what you get) HTML editor/page creator. If you have ever considered making web pages, this is a great way to start. Create a sub-directory on your hard drive, generate some pages, link them to one another, and load the start page into your browser. Vola! You have your own personal web site. If you find youself overwhelmed with the new terminology, grab a book on HTML. When I start a new adventure, I normally pick up one of those "Book for Dummy's". The check-out clerk sometimes chuckles, but the book always gets me going.

http://www.nvu.com/download.html

This month, lets have a little fun. LBReakout2 is a game modeled after Pong (anyone remember pong). For those of you that don't, there is a paddle that knocks a ball around, which is actually where the simularity ends. Your goal is to knock the many types of blocks off the screen. There are numerous levelsets, with may levels each. If ya get hooked, like I did, it becomes a real time eater.

One nice feature is the built-in editor, allowing you to create your own levelsets. Have fun.

http://lgames.sourceforge.net/index.php?project=LBreakout2

For this month, let me recommend a replacement for Microsoft Office and save you $400 to $500. The software, written by Sun Microsystems is called OPEN OFFICE. There is a commercial version called StarOffice, but I see no reason to pay for it.
http://download.openoffice.org/1.1.3/index.html

Like Microsoft Office, OpenOffice is a suite of programs. Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Presentation, etc. The applications are quite similar in look and feel. Menu items can be worded differently and location is not necessary the same. An aggravation, for sure, when starting out, but not overwhelming. When you save your work, you have the option to save files in Microsoft native formats. i.e.: .doc .exe, etc, making sharing files with others, seamless. There are problems with elaborate documents. Word files containing complex tables and unique fonts. Excel files containing macros, etc. These problems continue to disappear as OpenOffice evolves, but for
those who need to share complex documents on a regular basis, you may want to wait another year.

For the rest of you, give it a try. After all, ya can't beat the price -
It's FREE