| e-books come in a number of different formats as there is no established single standard, nor is there likely to be in the foreseeable future.
They fall broadly into two categories: - Self executable files:
these are the easiest to use straight away but as a general rule can only be viewed on PC computers running Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 & XP. They are essentially self-contained programs that display the pages as required. This method is good if you wish to publish trial copy or time-controlled publications, they can also be configured to run only on one machine which prevents unauthorised copying and distribution.
- Proprietary formats:
these require special reader software to be installed before the e-book can be viewed. This means that in some cases the same e-book can be viewed on other platforms such as PC computers running the Linux operating system, Apple PCs and the hand-held Pocket and Palm PCs
- Adobe PDF
Adobe Portable Document Files (PDF) have become well established over the last few years. The software to read these files is a free download
Adobe PDFs have several important advantages, the main one being that the format can be read on most of the popular electronic computing devices that are currently available. free download from here
- Microsoft Reader
Microsoft Reader is compatible with Windows and PocketPCs, but not Linux, Palm or Apple. Microsoft has recently entered into a deal with Amazon.com where only Microsoft Reader e-books can be sold on Amazon.com, however it remains to be seen if this format becomes dominant - Adobe has a strong lead in the market. free download from here
- yBook
yBook reads text, RTF or HTML files as well as its own proprietary format and displays the contents on side-by-side pages in the style of an open book
You can resize the book, adjust the margins, change the text and paper colours and search for words or phrases. yBook will automatically bookmark every file you open. yBook also lets you pick any font installed in your system, and allows sizes from 7 to 24 points, automatically adjusting the text so that you never have to pan around or scroll the page. free download from here
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