NeoPlanet
Eye-catching NeoPlanet (free) does much more than give IE a pretty face, although the more than 550 available skins for its browser are its biggest attention-getter.
Eye-catching NeoPlanet (free) does much more than give IE a pretty face, although the more than 550 available skins for its browser are its biggest attention-getter. The real reason to use NeoPlanet instead of ordinary IE is its superb ease of use, notably in its hierarchical Channel menu. In addition, NeoPlanet's toolbar makes bookmarks easier to navigate than the IE Favorites menu does.
NeoPlanet's Channels are sets of links arranged in categories. The default channel bar is heavily populated with links to the Lycos Network, but you can also customize the default bar with links of your own or download sponsored or user-designed channels. Even more impressive are NeoPlanet's option and setup menus, which let nontechnical users manage difficult features, such as multiple e-mail accounts, using NeoPlanet's integrated mail client. Buttons on the setup menu let you test your connection to your e-mail servers on the same menu where you enter the servers' addresses, for example, making troubleshooting far simpler than it would be with most other e-mail software.
If you want these conveniences, you'll have to live with an animated ad in the lower-right corner and menus filled with links to advertisers. In addition, the program's Club and instant-messaging features, which are provided by the Lycos Network, may tend to disrupt your browsing habits if you currently use a different Web portal.