As the newest version of the Eastgate Systems Web Squirrel nears release, it's a good time to take a look at some of the changes in this exciting program.

Web Squirrel helps people visualize cyberspace: It lets you create spatial maps of URLs, e-mail addresses, and other Internet resources. Bookmark menus, as we all have learned, are handy for keeping track of five or ten items. Even hierarchical lists are clumsy for hundreds of items. But even if you only learn about one or two new Internet resources a day, that's several hundred items a year. Either you find a better solution, or you spend all your time maintaining the Big List.

Web Squirrel's spatial maps and organizing tools are one better solution.

In planning the new release, we've tried to avoid disrupting the way Web Squirrel users already work. No file conversions are needed; existing information farms load directly.

Some visible changes include:

• Agents and items are now easier to see in a crowded map.
• Maps can now include pictures
• Web Squirrel is now scriptable; you can write AppleScripts to automatically organize, extend, or maintain information farms.
• AppleGuide support provides on-line help and guidance.
• Bunches now have pop-up menus, letting you peek into a Bunch without opening a separate window.
• Web Squirrel automatically keeps track of duplicate items; if you put the same item in several places, you can change or update every item at once.
• Importing, pasting, and dropping URLs (or entire bookmark files) is now smarter, faster, and neater.

Other changes make Web Squirrel work more smoothly with Web Squirrel for Cyberdog -- our new OpenDoc part that lets you add Web Squirrel functionality to all sorts of documents, including your own web pages. Also on tap is support for Apple's new Hot Sauce meta-content format (formerly known as "Project X"), which will help Web Squirrel cooperate with a variety of upcoming visualization and information mining tools.

Web Squirrel is just $50. It's small, swift, and lively. It's accelerated for PowerMac, and runs on just about any modern Macintosh computer. The full-featured demo is still free. For more information about Web Squirrel, send email to squirrel@eastgate.com .

• Eastgate Systems Web Squirrel

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