128-bit Communicator 4.5.1 is out;<br>

and a follow-up on Expander 5.1 .bin errors The 128-bit version of Netscape Communicator 4.5.1 is now out. [One reader claims that when he tried to download Communicator 4.51 by following the TUCOWS link, he gets the older version 4.5 version.]

Many users have had the infamous .bin corruption problem when downloading either version of Communicator 4.5.1 and trying to decode/expand it with StuffIt Expander 5.1 (after DropStuff 5.1 is installed). John Gall warns of an especially frustrating outcome:

"I have my Stuffit Expander settings set to delete the archives that I expand. If you drop a .bin file and get the message that the file may be corrupt, you are given a prompt to Continue or Cancel. If you choose to Continue, Stuffit Expander will simply delete the file!"

Not what you want to happen after you just downloaded a large file such as Communicator. Possible work-arounds?:

David Faust used MindExpander instead of StuffIt, and it worked fine.

If you have StuffIt Deluxe 5.0.2, several readers report that selecting Decode MacBinary from the Translate menu will work.

Several users report that using older (4.x) versions of Expander work, even if you leave the 5.x StuffIt engines in the System Folder.

Update: Aladdin confirms .bin problem Jeff Herscovitz just received the following from Aladdin:

We have recently discovered an issue with the StuffIt Engine 5.1 and StuffIt Engine PowerPlug 5.1 which causes some .bin files not to be expanded correctly. We are working on an update to fix for this problem. When it is ready it will be posted at our web site.

In the mean time the fix is to remove the StuffIt Engine and StuffIt Engine PowerPlug from your Extensions folder and then drag and drop the .bin file onto the StuffIt Expander icon. You do not need to restart the machine to do this, and when you are done you can simply put the Engine and PowerPlug back in the Extensions folder.