I use Pegasus Mail, and would recommend it. Other clients are available.
(b) recommend a news reader
I use Xnews, and would loosely recommend it, but more from inertia than anything else.
(d) recommend a web browser
Firefox is as good as any, especially now that you've missed Opera's one-day giveaway.
(h) The machine runs XP Pro and has Norton anti-virus software already installed. Is this sufficient or should I get different anti-virus software?
I've never found Norton to be particularly stable, and its firewall doesn't work at all well with the Windows one. AVG and the Symantec Personal firewall do me just about fine.
no subject
I use Pegasus Mail, and would recommend it. Other clients are available.
(b) recommend a news reader
I use Xnews, and would loosely recommend it, but more from inertia than anything else.
(d) recommend a web browser
Firefox is as good as any, especially now that you've missed Opera's one-day giveaway.
(h) The machine runs XP Pro and has Norton anti-virus software already installed. Is this sufficient or should I get different anti-virus software?
I've never found Norton to be particularly stable, and its firewall doesn't work at all well with the Windows one. AVG and the Symantec Personal firewall do me just about fine.