Learn to Use your Computer

In Windows XP, Internet Explorer is not the only Microsoft browser you can use to visit your favorite Web sites. This version of Windows also offers you the opportunity of using MSN Explorer to do the job. Using MSN Explorer to surf the Internet is a little different from using Internet Explorer. For one thing, each time you use MSN Explorer, you must sign in using a Hotmail user ID and password (which, if you don't already have one, you sign up for the first time you open MSN Explorer). For another thing, each time you sign on, MSN Explorer takes you to a version of the MSN.com Web site customized to your locale (as indicated by your local address and ZIP code that you give as part of the sign-up procedure) so that the opening page displays your local weather and top news stories along with the general topics.

To start MSN Explorer, click the Start button on the taskbar, point at All Programs, and then click MSN Explorer on the All Programs continuation menu. When you click this button, Windows opens the MSN window. To sign in and open the MSN.com Web site, you click your button (indicated by your Hotmail ID) to display an Enter Your Password text box and Sign In button shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: The MSN log-in page.

Type in your Hotmail account password and then click the Sign In button to connect to the Internet and go to a customized version of the home page of the MSN.com Web site (that says, "Good Morning," or "Good Afternoon," or "Good Evening," upon loading). Figure 2 shows a customized opening page, showing the weather at the Point Reyes Lighthouse and news stories for Santa Rosa, California.

Figure 2: A customized MSN home page.

MSN Explorer is divided into two main sections: a My Stuff pane on the left side and the main browsing area on the right. At the top of the browsing window, you find a toolbar with the following buttons:

• Go Back to Previous Page to return to a previously viewed page.

• Go Forward After Going Back to return to the page you just left by clicking the Go Back to Previous Page button.

• Home to return to your customized MSN home page.

• E-mail to get your Hotmail messages and to send new e-mail using this account.

• Favorites to display a list of links to the favorite pages you mark in MSN Explorer or to add Web pages that you visit to your list of favorites.

• Online Buddies to select an online buddy or add a new buddy for doing instant messaging with MSN Messenger Service.

• People & Chat to open the People & Chat page where you can locate and join an online chat or locate and join an online community with which to communicate.

• Money to open the MoneyCentral page with links for finding out all the latest financial news and for tracking your stocks and portfolio.

• Shopping to open the eShop page, where you can locate all sorts of online retailers ranging from Apparel & Accessories to Toys, Games, and Education.

• Music to open the Music page in the WindowsMedia.com site where you can purchase your favorites tunes or download the latest music and videos.

Beneath this toolbar, right above the main browsing area, you find a second toolbar that contains these buttons:

• Address bar: Enter the URL address of the Web site you want to visit in the Address bar.

• Go: Click the Go button to visit the Web site whose URL address is listed in the Address bar.

• Stop: Click the Stop button to stop loading a Web page that is taking a long time to display.

• Print: Click the Print button to print the Web page currently displayed in MSN Explorer.

• Refresh: Click the Refresh button to reload the page and to update the content currently displayed in the MSN browsing window.

• More Choices: Click this button to display a pop-up menu of choices, including New Window, to open a new browsing window, E-mail This Page to send the Web page to someone, and Find on Page to search for some text in the current Web page.

When you first start using MSN Explorer, the My Stuff area on the left side contains the following four buttons at the top of the bar:

• My Calendar: Use this button to set up your future appointments and then have the MSN Calendar remind you of them.

• My Stocks: Use this button to add all your favorite stock symbols to a pop-up list so that you can view the latest selling price simply by clicking the My Stocks button. To add stock symbols to this pop-up list, click the Go to My Stocks hyperlink at the bottom.

• My Web Sites: Use this button to list all of the online communities that you join (in wide-ranging areas from Business to Sports and Recreation). To browse and join communities of your choice, click the My Web Sites button and then click the Open My Web Sites hyperlink at the bottom of the pop-up list. To visit the Web pages for a community that you join, click that link in the pop-up list.

• My Photos: Use this button to create Web pages for your favorite photos that you can share with everyone on the Web.

These buttons are followed by a Search the Web text box that you can use to search for new sites and a collapsed version of Media Player, which you can use to listen to online audio and video that you access with the browser.

To customize the buttons in the My Stuff bar, click the Help & Settings button on the right side of the MSN Explorer title bar to display the Member Center page. On this page, click the Personalize My Stuff hyperlink (numbered 8 in the list of things you can customize).

Selecting this link takes you to a Choose Content for the My Stuff Area page that shows the current list of buttons and is followed by a list of the other buttons (from My Files to My Mobile) that you can add. To add a new button to the My Stuff area, click the Add This button beneath the icon used to represent the area (for example, underneath the football and basketball icon used to represent the My Sports button).

To remove an existing button, click the Remove button to the right of the name at the top of this page. To advance a button by placing it higher up in the list in the My Stuff area, click the button that has the triangle pointing up. To demote a button by placing it lower in the list in the My Stuff area, click the button that has the triangle pointing down.

When you're finished browsing with MSN Explorer, you have a choice between closing the browser but not signing off (so that you're still connected to the MSN.com Web site and can receive updates and instant messages) or closing the browser and signing off.

To close the browser but stay signed on, click the Close button in the far right of the MSN Explorer title bar and then click the OK button in the alert dialog box that appears. This dialog box tells you that, after closing all MSN Explorer windows, you will still be signed in and MSN Explorer will continue to run in the background in the Notifications area of the taskbar so that you can continue to receive notifications and instant messages. To sign off when you close all MSN Explorer windows, click the Sign Out and Close MSN Explorer button (only the Sign Out part of the name appears on the MSN Explorer title bar). MSN Explorer will say "Goodbye" to you as it closes all open MSN Explorer windows.