Digital map of the world

In the GIS utilities a link and related input format support is given for a digital map of the world that does not appear to be accessible anymore.
I would be most grateful if someone could point me to a link to digital map information in vector form (political boundaries, rivers, cities etc) that can be put into IGOR via its GIS utilities. Direct access to any such data sets would be highly appreciated, likewise input routines for GIS files with current formats such as shapefiles.
Thanks very much in advance
Jost