Searching the Net

AltaVista

AltaVista is currently the best searcher, searching for information on Web pages and Usenet groups. It has the greatest database, and refreshes it quite fast. The above link leads to a local search form, but if you prefer, you may use the original form (it gives also eg. help) - which is available here.

Lycos

Lycos is also a searcher that searches Web pages for information. For a long time it was the best one, until AltaVista arived... Anyway, it's still a good place to search, and is often complementary to AltaVista. The above link leads to a local search form, but if you prefer, you may use the original form (it gives also eg. help) - which is available here.

Yahoo!

Unlike AltaVista and Lycos, Yahoo! is not a searcher, but a Web index. This, besides everything else, mean the info found there is not collected by robots, but by people. This has prons - better choice, and cons - smaller resources. Anyway, it's worth visiting, especially when you search for something by subject.

Archie

Unlike the previous services, which searched the Web, Archie is designed for the purpose of searching files on the Anonymous FTP sites. You will use it when you'll not know where to find some file, or when you'll search for the nearest copy. Archie to WWW gateway available here allows you to download files with a browser.