Webserver tools have just started to show up in the Mac consumer catalogs. MacZone is offering PageMill for $98.98, and WebSTAR and ListSTAR for $497.98 each. (WebSTAR puts your website on the net; ListSTAR manages LISTSERV-style email newsletters and forums.) Also the NaviSoft web authoring kit; NetCloak for password security and other website improvements; NetForms for implementing interactive forms; Virtus WalkThrough Pro 2.5 for presenting 3D environments; and Eudora Pro for email management. WebSTAR and ListSTAR are also in the latest MacWarehouse catalog, along with Web Page Construction Kit, Internet Publishing Kit, and several browsers.

Most webmastering functions can be performed with shareware, from sites such as . That site was compiled for the "WebMaster Macintosh" book by Bob LeVitus and Jeff Evans, which comes with a CD ROM of the freeware and shareware. (MacZone sells the book for $26.98. Other books cover browsing the web and constructing pages.) Webmaster Macintosh starts with a foreword saying that commercial Unix-based websites have typically cost $100K, but that a Mac-based site can do the same work -- say, 90K hits/day -- for under $10K (on a $3K Apple Work Group Server using WEBstar). Cheaper configurations are possible, and you can start by renting page space from an Internet service provider (ISP). Carl de Cordova predicts that the 30K servers on the net will soon increase to 300K, with over half of them being Macintoshes by the summer of 1996. That creates quite a market for Mac-based web consultants.

Incidentally, the book includes a coupon for WebSTAR software at $235 for educational users, $635 corporate (plus CA tax) -- vs. the $498 in MacZone. That's if you want to upgrade the WebSTAR PS (formerly MacHTTP) software that comes on the CD ROM. It also has discounts on UUNET/Alternet services, good through 7/31/96. UUNET is a high-quality (but expensive?) ISP. For other ISPs, see The List: . Or start with , Bruce Barrett's page on how to get started on the web, and follow the links to another list of ISPs.

A demo copy of Adobe's PageMill editor for HTML pages can be downloaded from . [Guy Kawasaki, MacWay, 12/4/95.]

Want to run your own threaded discussion groups from your website? Web Crossing 1.0 is available for Mac, NT, and Solaris. . Lundeen & Associates (Alameda, CA), (415) 771-7547. [Tim Lundeen , 11/26/95.] (Could this be used to organize academic workshops?)

NETSURFER TOOLS is an e-zine to keep technical professionals current with online technology. ASCII or HTML. Send a "subscribe nstools-text" or "subscribe nstools-html" message to . . [Scout Report, 8/11/95.]

HTML authors will find any documents and links they need on Mark Gaither's site, . [WEBster, 10/3/95.]

See also "Top Ten Skills You'll Need for Getting on the Internet" at , plus other entry-level material from Michael Dortch. [David Strom , Web Informant, 10/30/95.]