Citation: MacWEEK, April 3, 1995 v9 n14 p27(2) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Title: TCP/Connect II 2.1 for Mac: all-in-one connectivity. (InterCon Systems Corp's network and Internet-access software) (Software Review)(Evaluation) Authors: Wiseth, Kelli ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subjects: Software Single Product Review; Network software Companies: InterCon Systems Corp._Products Products: TCP/Connect II for Macintosh 2.1 (Network software)_Evaluation Reference #: A16767120 ======================================================================== Abstract: InterCon Systems Corp's TCP/Connect II for Macintosh 2.1 is a comprehensive package that offers all the necessary tools for accessing Internet or corporate network resources. Version 2.1 is available in a $495 TCP/Connect II-Extended format for LAN-based connections or a $195 TCP/Connect II-Remote format for dial-up access. The program requires at least 5MB of disk space, 5MB or RAM and a TCP/IP connection. It is easy to install and its configuration process accommodates a variety of networking scenarios. The program includes a wealth of Internet tools, including an FTP client, Gopher client, mail client, browser and news reader client. The program's Web browser enables users to access any universal resource locator-compliant Web site. On the downside, creating customized hot lists is slightly cumbersome, the browser suffers from a few bugs and the documentation lacks technical detail and a tutorial. ======================================================================== Full Text COPYRIGHT Ziff Davis Publishing 1995 Score card: TCP/Connect II for Macintosh 2.1 InterCon Systems Corp. List price: $495* Overall value: 3 (Good) TCP/Connect II 2.1 provides all the tools you need to access the wide range of resources on the Internet or on hosts on your corporate network, whether from your office, home or on the road. Contained in the package are a Web browser, news reader, FTP client and server, Gopher client, and e-mail client -- all with a common Mac interface. The main advantage of this is that network administrators can install, configure and support a single program rather than a hodgepodge of separate Internet tools. Some minor bugs and outdated and confusing documentation lessen the program's value. Still, it remains a solid set of Mac Internet tools -- InterCon just needs to work a few of the kinks out. Performance: 4 (Very Good) Features: 3 (Good) Ease of use: 3 (Good) Documentation/support: 3 (Good) *Extended version for LAN users; TCP/Connect II-Remote, $195. Remote to Extended version upgrades, $249. Bundles of each version available for 10 to 100 users. InterCon's Net navigation app upgrade boosts options and power; some bugs remain. InterCon Systems Corp.'s TCP/Connect II for Macintosh 2.0 was a good start toward a complete Mac software connectivity package for the Internet. Taking a Swiss army knife approach, the program offered a variety of Internet tools -- including a Gopher client, FTP client and server, news reader client, and mail client with support for MIME attachments -- all under a common Mac interface. Version 2.1 adds a few new blades to the knife, including an integrated World-Wide Web browser, and support for Point-to-Point Protocol clients and the SOCKS fire wall proxy service. TCP/Connect II ships in two flavors: The $495 TCP/Connect II-Extended supports LAN-based connections via Ethernet in addition to serial connections; the $195 TCP/Connect II-Remote supports dial-up access only, via Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) or Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP). Now native on Power Macs, TCP/Connect II 2.1 requires at least 5 Mbytes of RAM, 5 Mbytes of disk space and a TCP/IP network connection. TCP/Connect II's mail client requires a POP2 (Post Office Protocol 2) or POP3 mail server. TCP/Connect II ships on three disks and is easy to install. Depending on the environment and the features you'll be using, configuration may involve just a few or many of the program's 19 configuration panels. Although 19 panels might sound burdensome, this approach is very modular, enabling TCP/Connect II to accommodate a variety of networking scenarios. Unfortunately, trying to figure out which panels are necessary for your scenario may prove difficult, because the documentation lacks an overview of the program and the configuration process. It would be nice if there was a cheat sheet describing which panels need to be configured for different environments and setups. At minimum, you'll need to set up the Network Configuration panel, which provides the interface between TCP/Connect II and the transport mechanism, whether LAN- or serial-based. If you are using a serial connection for PPP or SLIP, you will also need to set up the Serial and Sessions Configuration panels. You can then configure the various client tools as necessary. Once you've finished, it's a good idea to save a copy of your settings file because this file will become damaged if your Mac locks up, and you'll have to re-enter the configuration information -- a problem we unfortunately discovered ourselves. The clients After launching TCP/Connect II, you open the appropriate session under the Terminal window, and the program will either dial up the remote server or access your network server via TCP/IP. We reviewed TCP/Connect II using a PPP remote account, dialing in to a router using a static Internet Protocol address and then sending mail and accessing Web, FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and Gopher sites around the world. As with other Web browsers, such as Netscape Communications Corp.'s Navigator, you can use the TCP/Connect II Web browser to access any Web site as long as it conforms to URL (universal resource locator) addressing conventions. The browser includes a main hot list to which you use a menu command to easily add items as you're viewing them. Creating customized hot lists, however, is a bit clumsy: You must either enter the URL manually or copy and paste it from the main list. A smoother approach, such as the one used by Mosaic, would be to let you use any list you create as your current list and then add to it as you access different sites. The Web browser also suffers from a few bugs not yet shaken out, such as menu selections that don't work. For example, one menu item lets you save a Web page as text, source file or document with graphics, but the latter option never worked during our tests. Also, the Save and Save As menu selections were sometimes replaced by an option labeled "Type the URL for your Home Page here." When we selected this option, the Save As dialog would display. (InterCon said these glitches are being fixed in a forthcoming release.) TCP/Connect II's FTP client provides fast downloading and automatic conversion of AppleSingle, BinHex and uuencoded files, as well as files compressed with Aladdin Systems Inc.'s StuffIt. Although it is good, one feature we'd like to see added is for the display of the size and date of files on the FTP server -- only after you begin a download does a timer bar appear that gives you a sense of how long the transfer may take. Along with client software, TCP/Connect II also lets you set up an FTP server to provide documentation, software or other resources to users on your network or over the Internet. The mail client includes basic features such as an address book and message management, but what's really nice is the new MIME, or Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, support. With MIME, you can send and receive messages that can include international character sets; different font styles and sizes; QuickTime movies; sounds; and JPEG, GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) and PICT files. TCP/Connect II includes built-in viewers for GIF, PICT and JPEG file formats, so you can automatically display these images in the Message window. You can also play QuickTime movies within the message body and play back sound files by simply selecting Play Sound from the Messages menu. Under System 7.5 (or with the Macintosh Drag and Drop extension), you can drag attachments on and off a message. Having the mail client integrated with TCP/Connect II's other Internet tools provides a real boost to productivity. When you come across something of interest to a colleague as you troll the Internet, you can immediately pop it into an e-mail message and send it on its way. Version 2.1 also includes support for the SOCKS protocol, which is a proxy service that lets users who are on a network protected by a fire wall access Internet services; we did not test this feature for this review. Documentation and support TCP/Connect II's four hefty manuals and supplementary booklets need work. Along with the lack of an overview or tutorial of the product, they also lack technical detail, failing to explain such things as how configuration panels might affect each other and how they interrelate. Although the program was ultimately easy to configure, the documentation confused us more than it helped. On the other hand, InterCon's technical support is excellent. While many companies' voice-mail systems are a virtual Bermuda Triangle, InterCon's is well thought out. For example, every 30 seconds you have the option of leaving a message instead of waiting; when we tried this, our calls were returned within four hours. Technical support, which is free for 90 days, is also available via fax and e-mail. Conclusions TCP/Connect II 2.1 is a good all-in-one software package for Internet connectivity. The program's FTP client, Gopher client, Web browser, news reader and mail client are easy to use and, for the most part, well-integrated with each other and the Mac environment. For network administrators on large corporate networks, the product provides the advantage of a single application to install, configure and support, rather than a multitude of separate client applications. The new Web browser needs a bug fix, and the documentation could use an overhaul, but overall this is a decent set of Internet tools. InterCon Systems Corp. of Herndon, Va., is at (703) 709-5500 or (800) 468-7266; fax (703) 709-5555; sales@intercon.com. ========================================================================