SlipKnot Home Page

SlipKnot was a Windows-based graphical WWW browser which did NOT require SLIP or PPP or TCP/IP.

Designed for users of UNIX dial-up or direct connect shell accounts, SlipKnot has a number of features included specifically for serial communications users.

SlipKnot was compatible with (some) Freenets. For freenet (sysop) information: see our Freenets Page

You will find information below on:

• Awards
• SlipKnot Features
• Limitations (truth in advertising)
• System requirements for both your PC and the UNIX system
• A note to UNIX service providers
• About MicroMind

SlipKnot Wins Shareware Award

On June 23, 1995, Ziff-Davis/PC Magazine announced the winners of its annual Shareware Competition. Over 1,300 entries were submitted, "judged for innovativeness, quality and value", and subsequently divided into 16 functional categories.

• SlipKnot was awarded Best Shareware Communications Program of 1995.
• This year, the judges were deeply divided between between two finalists for the top honors, and took the unusual step of naming a runner-up. Consequently, SlipKnot was announced as Runner-up for Best Overall Shareware Program of 1995.

For reviews, testimonials and other commentary on SlipKnot, please see our SlipKnot Reviews Page.

Also, our Who Needs SlipKnot? page offers some comparisons with the traditional SLIP/PPP approach to the Web.

Version information:

• The latest full distribution version was 1.50

Features (as of version 1.40)

1. Does not require SLIP or PPP or TCP/IP in any form -- it makes use of an ordinary dial-up UNIX shell session. Does not use TIA or remsock, and places no executable binaries on the UNIX system.
2. Allows you to switch between SlipKnot's Web browser and its UNIX terminal window at any time (except when documents are being retrieved). The terminal window allows:
   • scripting -- to automate login and logout
   • file uploads and downloads
   • any other UNIX operation you would normally use (mail, news, WAIS, archie, etc.)
3. Can save entire documents -- including the embedded pictures -- in your own local directories. These documents can be redisplayed at any later time, including offline. This allows you to demonstrate the WWW even when not connected to it, since the document links to each other are saved with the documents.
4. Documents are retrieved in the background, allowing you to scroll through other displayed documents or print, etc. during retrieval.
5. Displays up to 10 documents on the screen (user choice between 2 - 10).
6. "Get All Links": SlipKnot can be told to retrieve all or some of the links inside any particular document and allows you to choose those links you wish to retrieve ahead of time -- no other browser we know of has this feature. (Feature restricted to registered SlipKnot users).
7. The text of the documents will be displayed first.
8. Document windows can be resized.
9. Displays most graphics formats, and will play sound files (if you have sound capabilities)
10. Documents are saved with your comments attached, to make them easier to find later.
11. Screen fonts and printer fonts are changeable.
12. Keeps an unlimited session cache (limited by available disk space) of retrieved documents.
13. You can ask for more than one document while waiting -- requests are automatically queued up.
14. Since SlipKnot is also an offline document renderer, so you can use it to display your own home pages while they're in development.
15. SlipKnot will retrieve files via anonymous FTP for you.
16. SlipKnot will run Gopher for you, although access to this feature is limited to registered users.
17. SlipKnot will send outgoing mail (supports "mailto:" HTML tag).
18. Last, but definitely not least: SlipKnot has built-in upgrading capabilities (see below). When new versions are released, SlipKnot users can click on a built-in SlipKnot link, which will retrieve and upgrade the product itself.

Design Note: SlipKnot was specifically designed for modem and serial line users. Unlike many other World Wide Web browsers, SlipKnot understands that its users will have to wait a while for each document to be retrieved from the internet, no matter which browser they are using. Therefore, we included many features to allow multiple documents to be seen, stored, and printed so you don't have to retrieve documents unnecessarily, and so retrieval can be performed in the background.

Limitations (truth in advertising)

• SlipKnot retrieves documents automatically via http or ftp or gopher only. No newsreader or mailreader or WAIS yet. However, you can always switch to the UNIX terminal window to perform these services.
• SlipKnot does not support 286 PCs.
• SlipKnot may run a little slower than some fast SLIP-based browsers -- a consequence of the additional steps SlipKnot needs to retrieve documents. However, unlike other browsers, SlipKnot retrieves its documents in the background, allowing you to browse other documents in the foreground.

System requirements

PC System requirements:

1. Microsoft Windows (tm) 3.1+ running in 386 Enhanced mode, or Windows for Workgroups, Windows NT, Windows 95, or OS/2-Win.
2. We believe that SlipKnot will run with the new SoftWindows 2.0 emulator for the Mac.
3. A UNIX dial-up account (with or without modem) with shell access (or BBS or Freenet -- see below under UNIX requirements). You must have write permission to your UNIX home directory. Shell access is required -- SlipKnot will not work with UNIX systems that trap you inside of menus.
4. At least 4 MB of RAM memory; recommended 8 MB. Since SlipKnot is a graphics program, the more memory you have, the better.
5. At least 2 MB of available hard disk space. SlipKnot itself takes approx. 1.5 MB, but since it allows you to save your documents, more free space is much better.

Requirements of your UNIX system:

The UNIX system must:

• provide you will a shell account (the type of shell makes little difference: SlipKnot has been tested with sh, csh, ksh, bash and tcsh).
• have Internet access
• offer either one of two standard programs: "lynx" or "www". It is preferable that your UNIX system have lynx version 2-4-2 or 2.4-FM or later. If you have an older version of lynx (you can find out the version by executing "lynx -version" at the UNIX prompt), you can get information on getting the latest version from the Lynx Home Page.
• offer uploading and downloading of files via Xmodem, Ymodem, Zmodem or Kermit.
• offer anonymous FTP capability (to retrieve SlipKnot itself).

or, if it is a BBS or Freenet:

• You will see an option for "SlipKnot" on one of your menus.
• If you don't, and you know that you are on a Freenet using the UNIX operating system, please have your sysop contact us for a special Freenet/BBS version of SlipKnot  -- reach us at:
   

Note to UNIX service providers:

SlipKnot does not deposit any executable binaries on your host. It makes use of only the following UNIX commands: "ls", "echo", "rm", "chmod", either "lynx" or "www", and whichever programs you offer for X, Y or Zmodem or Kermit file transfers.

Because SlipKnot is able to save entire documents (including the embedded pictures) on the user's local PC, your users do not have to retrieve any document more than once.

SlipKnot 1.50 was available for site licensing and volume discounts. 

About MicroMind, Inc.

MicroMind, Inc. is a New York City-based software development company with six major products developed and released for the international market, including:

• RUN/C -- the world's first interpreter for the C language -- 20,000 copies sold in the U.S. and Japan at $250.
• OL2 -- a product to duplicate the functionality of Sharp Electronics' Wizard Electronic Organizer on a desktop computer -- marketed by Sharp worldwide. Over 215,000 copies sold at $100.

Note from Peter Brooks, President of MicroMind and developer of SlipKnot:

SlipKnot was created because there was, at that time, no other alternative to accessing the World Wide Web graphically if you did not have SLIP or PPP or TCP/IP access. Having analyzed Mosaic and some of its competitors, I concluded that all of these browsers were designed for people with very rapid communications channels into the Internet, not modem or serial line users. Even if you have SLIP access, many of these browsers do not allow you to save entire documents (with the included pictures), forcing you to retrieve the documents again whenever you wish to take a full look at them -- eliminating the possibility of demonstrating WWW without being online. It takes a while to retrieve any document by modem with any browser, and you shouldn't have to do this more than once.

The Web is a remarkable human construct and a truly a wondrous place. I hope that SlipKnot brings you the magic of the Web, and that you become as astounded by it as I am.

In addition, since SlipKnot was released in late November, 1994, we have received thousands of messages from thankful users. Some of these messages can be seen in SlipKnot Reviews. We would, in turn, like to thank all of those folks who have sent us their suggestions, concerns, bug reports, and words of encouragement.