Browsing with MSN Explorer in Windows XP

In Windows XP, Internet Explorer isn't 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 MSN.com 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.

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 (for example, see Figure 1).

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 Page to 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.

• 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 (see "Retrieving e-mail via Windows Messenger" later in this part).

• 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 Contacts 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.

• Games to 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 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 Find on Page to search for some text in the current Web page, and Help to get online help in using MSN Explorer.

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 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 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 minimize (or maximize) 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 and a collapsed version of Media Player, which you can use to listen to online audio and video that you access with the browser.

When you finish browsing with MSN Explorer, you have two choices:

• 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 windows, 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 click the Close button in the MSN Welcome screen to close all open MSN Explorer windows.