NCSA Mosaic for Microsoft Windows User's Guide

Acquiring the Software

Anonymous FTP

If you do not already have the NCSA Mosaic software, start by moving to a location where applications are normally installed on your system and create a subdirectory for NCSA Mosaic. The subdirectory name is arbitrary; the name mosaic is used here to clarify the following discussion. Move into the new subdirectory: 
        mkdir mosaic
        cd mosaic

Now you are ready to log on to NCSA's FTP server and download the NCSA Mosaic files: 

        ftp ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu
        At login prompt, enter anonymous
        At password prompt, enter your email address (e.g., jdoe@business.com)
        get README.FIRST
        cd PC/Mosaic
        ls    To list the available files and directories
        bin    To change to binary mode for the file transfer
        get readme.now
        get wmos20a5.zip
        quit    To quit the FTP application and return to your machine

The filename wmos20a5.zip will change with each release and update. It will be in the format nameversion.zip where name represents the name of the software and version represents the current version number and release level.

If you have never downloaded PC files from NCSA's server, read the file README.FIRST now. It provides useful information that may facilitate later steps in the installation process.

The file wmos20a5.zip is a compressed archive containing the NCSA Mosaic executable and several documents. Execute the following command to retrieve the files from the compressed archive: 

        pkunzip wmos20a5.zip

On Floppy Disks

If you have ordered floppy disks from NCSA, just copy the files from the floppy disk into the appropriate directory on your hard disk and unpack the compressed file as above.

Confirming the Files

Once you have downloaded and uncompressed the NCSA Mosaic files, the installation process is straightforward. Check the files in your NCSA Mosaic directory against the list in the file install.wri or install.txt from the compressed file to make sure that you have all of the required files. The readme files may also contain last minute information that was not available when other documentation was prepared.

If you want to review the list of NCSA Mosaic enhancements and bug fixes since the last version, you should read the file update.txt. Or you can wait until you have NCSA Mosaic running and read this list online; follow the Feature List link on the NCSA Mosaic for Microsoft Windows Home Page. (The features list is at the URL http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/WinMosaic/Features.html.)

National Center for Supercomputing Applications / mosaic-win@ncsa.uiuc.edu