INSTALLATION

The content on the disc itself popped right into my system. BUT THEN - then…..*then*….well, that’s a different story. "Unrestricted Access" is a browser-based information resource / encyclopedia. As such, it requires a "web browser" to be fully functional. Specifically, it requires Internet Explorer 4.0. I didn’t have Internet Explorer 4.0 - so it wanted to put it in *for* me (the installation disc comes with IE4). It took A LONG TIME to load IE4 into my system. I have a rather fast and fully-realized system (166mhz, over 2 gig hard drive, 64 megs of RAM, 12X CD-ROM) and nearly twenty minutes elapsed before the IE got through doing whatever it needed to do to my computer. I don’t know if other users can expect a similar delay, or if my computer was simply struggling to resist yet another Microsoft infiltration. And THEN my system threw a message at me informing me that my Netscape Communicator (my browser of choice) was no longer my system’s default browser - and asked if I wanted to make it so again.

So - all of this was a bit messy and time-intensive. I really disliked this part of the proceedings. I dislike the idea of forcing me to install a browser that I wouldn’t be using if not for this software. A lot of disc space is taken up to accommodate IE4. Disc space I could be using for many other applications.

So - WHY does "Unrestricted Access" need a web browser, you ask? Because it can connect to the Net and DOWNLOAD new files. New "X-Files" cases, character profiles, etc. to be studied and evaluated. So, as the series (and broadening mythos) continues to grow, so will your encyclopedia about the series. This is a rather ingenious way to solve the problems suffered by so many other series based encyclopedias - the idea that by the time you purchase the information resource, the series has already progressed passed said resource, and your resource is out of date. Isn’t much of an issue here, and I think this is a very good thing.