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Aladdin's Internet Cleanup v1.1Removes spyware; protects privacy; blocks Ads
Aladdin. A company that came to make the phrase 'StuffIt' respectable. But they also make a hand full of other programs. We're going to check Internet Cleanup v1.1.
Aladdin claims that IC will: Remove Spyware; Protect privacy; Block Ads; Delete Tracking Devices; Shred confidential files". Well, let's see.
You launch an installer for this app. I'd almost forgotten about those. Picky, but I wish they would update the icon. There hasn't been a 'gumdrop' iMac built for years.
The GUI is Apple's Aqua look. The navigation is laid out very logically but there is a downside (SEE 'THE UGLY').
SpyAlert detects possible spyware on your system. Spyware is just what it says. It let's someone track your keystrokes, capture screenshots, track your internet site history, etc. Now, not all of the files it presents to you are spyware but MAY BE spyware. So you have to pick as to whether it will stay or it will go.
Everything, except the spyware remover, you can already do without this program and without paying a cent.
Blocking Pop-Up Ads you can set in practically every modern browser. Cookie Tosser will remove all the cookies from your existing browsers. Since you mainly only use one browser, probably, you can do this easily from within the app. Web Cache Files Remover does just that. Internet History Files Remover. And as with the above features, you can already do all of this from within your browser. All at no cost.
SecureDelete. This one has a caveat to it. If you have Panther, you can accomplish this same thing from your Finder Menu. If you have Jaguar or Classic, this could be useful.
Back to the GUI. The first two selections are laid out well and are intuitive. I'm afraid the bottom four appear to have been reversed in the coding. All the buttons are dark. This led me to believe that they were already selected. In fact, you have to click on them to lighten them up to the level of the rest of the pane to ensure that they are on. Not very intuitive.
Aladdin, of course, is the standard for compression software that all other manufacturers try to meet. And till this day, no one has succeeded in toppling them from their rightfully earned pinnacle.But this is a piece of software that can be a useful tool only for Jaquar and Classic users.
But at $25/$30, I'd give it a second thought and look around some.
Frank Petrie
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