Anoffline reader (sometimes called anoffline browser oroffline navigator) iscomputer software that downloadse-mail,newsgroup posts orweb pages, making them available when the computer isoffline: not connected to a server.[a] Offline readers are useful forportable computers anddial-up access.
Website mirroring software is software that allows for the download of a copy of an entirewebsite to the local hard disk foroffline browsing. In effect, the downloaded copy serves as amirror of the original site.Web crawler software such asWget can be used to generate a site mirror.
Offline mail readers arecomputer programs that allow users to readelectronic mail or other messages (for example, those onbulletin board systems) with a minimum of connection time to the server storing the messages. BBSservers accomplished this by packaging up multiple messages into acompressed file, e.g., aQWK packet, for the user to download using, e.g.,Xmodem,Ymodem,Zmodem, and then disconnect. The user reads and replies to the messages locally and packages up and uploads any replies or new messages back to the server upon the next connection. Internet mail servers usingPOP3 orIMAP4 send the messages uncompressed as part of the protocol, and outbound messages usingSMTP are also uncompressed.Offline news readers usingNNTP are similar, but the messages are organized into news groups.
Most e-mail protocols, like the commonPOP3 andIMAP4 used forinternet mail, need be on-line only during message transfer; the same applies to theNNTP protocol used byUsenet (Network news). Most end-user mailers, such asOutlook Express andAOL, can be used offline even if they are mainly intended to be used online, but some mailers such asJuno are mainly intended to be used offline.
Off-line mail readers are generally considered to be those systems that did not originally offer such functionality, notably onbulletin board systems where toll charges and tying up telephone lines were a major concern. Users of large networks such asFidoNet regularly used offline mail readers, and it was also used forUseNet messages on the internet, which is also an on-line system. The two most common formats for FidoNet BBS's were Blue Wave andQWK. Less well-known examples include Silver Xpress'sOPX, XRS, OMEN,SOUP andZipMail.
| Name | Use | Publisher | License | Platform | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Wave | BBS (Blue Wave) | Fred Rappuhn and George Hatchew | Shareware | DOS | [b] |
| Freddie | BBS (QWK) | Kem Tekinay | Shareware | Classic Mac OS | [c] |
| GoldED | BBS (FidoNet) | Odinn Sørensen | GPL | DOS | [d] |
| Golden CommPass (GCP) | CompuServe | Creative Systems Programming Corporation | Paid | OS/2 | [e] |
| Hamster | Mathias Dolidon | Web | Free software | Windows, Linux, OS X, Unix | [2] |
| HTTrack | HTTrack.com | Web | Free software | Windows, Linux, OS X, Unix | [3] |
| Leech | Web | Universal Commerce, Issaquah | Shareware | Windows | [4] |
| MR/2 and MR/2 PM | BBS | Knight Writer Software Company | Shareware | OS/2 | [f] |
| MR/2 ICE | Internet mail and news | Secant / Alphacat | Shareware | OS/2, Windows | [g] |
| Offline Explorer | Web | Metaproducts | Paid | Windows | [5] |
| OLX (Off Line Xpress) | BBS (QWK) | Mustang Software, Inc. | Paid | DOS | [h] |
| ScrapBook | Web | Mozilla Add-ons | Freeware | Cross-platform | [6] |
| TapCIS | CompuServe | CompuServe Information Service (CIS) | Shareware | DOS | [e] |
Leech is a high-speed offline web browser for Windows 95/98/NT that downloads web site content to your hard drive.
