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 differ-ent from using Internet Explorer. For one thing, each time you use MSN Explorer, you must sign in using a Hotmail user ID and pass-word (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, which 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. The first time you launch MSN Explorer, an alert dialog box appears, asking you if you would “like to get on the Internet and write e-mail through the Start menu using MSN Explorer.” Click the Yes button (you can also click the Don’t Show Message Again check box so you’re not bothered with this question again before selecting Yes) to close the Use MSN Explorer dialog box.
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When you click the Yes button, Windows opens the Welcome to MSN Explorer window. To sign in and open the MSN.com Web site, type your password in the Enter Your Password text box and then click the Sign In button.
Windows opens a customized version of the home page of the MSN.com Web site. The following figure shows an opening page customized for my account. This page shows the weather at the Point Reyes Lighthouse on a Local Weather pop-up menu if you click the Point Reyes Station button that appears at the very top of the My Stuff pane on the left, because this is very close to my home.
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:
Goes Back to Previous Pageto return to a previously viewed page.
Goes Forward After Going Back to return to the page you were visiting just before you clicked the Goes Back to Previous Page button.
Hometo return to your customized MSN home page.
E-mailto get your Hotmail messages and to send new e-mail using this account (see“Retrieving e-mail via Windows Messenger” later in this part).
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Favoritesto 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 Contactsto select an online buddy or add a new buddy for doing instant messaging with MSN Messenger Service (see
“Instant messaging” later in this part for details).
People & Chatto open the People & Chat page, where you can locate and join an online chat or locate and join an online com-munity with which to communicate.
Moneyto open the MoneyCentral page, with links for finding out all the latest financial news and for tracking your stocks and portfolio.
Shoppingto open the eShop page, where you can locate all sorts of online retailers ranging from Apparel & Accessories to Toys, Games, and Education.
Musicto open the Music page in the WindowsMedia.com site, where you can purchase your favorites tunes or download the latest music and videos.
Gamesto open Zone.com in the MSN browser, where you can play different types of games, including puzzles, trivia, card and board, and casino-type games.
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 dis-played 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 Find on Page to search for some text in the current Web page, and Help to get online help in using MSN Explorer.
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When you first start using MSN Explorer, the My Stuff area on the left side contains the following buttons at the top of the bar:
My Calendar:Use this button to set up your future appoint-ments and then have the MSN Calendar remind you of them.
My Stocks:Use this button to add all your favorite stock sym-bols 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 Groups: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 Horoscope:Use this button to open the MSN Astrology page, where you can get your personalized horoscope.
My Photos:Use this button to create Web pages for your favorite photos, which you can share with everyone on the Web.
Unnamed button with two triangles pointing to the right:Use this button to select the Minimize (or Maximize) option to mini-mize (or maximini-mize) this bar or to select the Personalize My Stuff option to open the Member Center page, where you can view and customize the items in the My Stuff area.
These buttons are followed by a Search the Web text box that you can use to search for new sites (see“Searching the Web,” which fol-lows) 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 top-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). Or you can click the button with the two triangles pointing to the right at the bottom of the My Stuff area and then click Personalize My Stuff item on the pop-up menu.
Doing this takes you to a Change My Stuff page that shows the cur-rent 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
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button to the My Stuff area, click the Add This! button beneath the icon used to represent the area (for example, underneath the foot-ball and basketfoot-ball 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 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 of 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 (the one with the X) on the far-right side 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 win-dows, you will still be signed in, and MSN Explorer will continue to run in the background in the Notification 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 Sign Out and then click the Close button in the MSN Welcome screen to close all open MSN Explorer windows.