Internet Guide and Web Tutorial

 
On This Page
This Way to the Information Superhighway This Way to the Information Superhighway
Browser Basics Browser Basics
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0
How Do I Search? How Do I Search?
Getting Online Getting Online
All About E-Mail All About E-Mail
Find It on the Internet Find It on the Internet
Online Banking and Investing Online Banking and Investing
Internet Security Internet Security
Creating a Web Site Creating a Web Site
Multimedia on the Web Multimedia on the Web
A Brief History of the Internet A Brief History of the Internet

This Way to the Information Superhighway

From the basics of browsing the World Wide Web to the details of banking online, the Microsoft Personal Computing Internet Guide delivers the knowledge you need to venture onto the Internet, explore its vast offerings, and make it work for you. Find out how to unearth the online information, entertainment, and services you want with the practical insight and advice in these chapters.

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Browser Basics

Whether you're brand new to browsing the World Wide Web or you have some experience under your belt, you'll want to check out the practical questions and answers and loads of useful browser tips in this section.

• What's in a Web browser?
• What is a URL?
• Browser tips
• The cache and toolbar
• What is HTML?
• Why do some Web pages take so long to download?
• What is Active Desktop?
• What is FTP, and what does it have to do with downloading?

What's in a Web browser?

A Web browser contains the basic software you need in order to find, retrieve, view, and send information over the Internet. This includes software that lets you:

• Send and receive electronic-mail, or e-mail, messages worldwide nearly instantaneously.
• Read messages from newsgroups, forums about thousands of topics in which users share information and opinions.
• Browse the World Wide Web (or Web) where you can find a rich variety of text, graphics, and interactive information.

Browsers such as Microsoft® Internet Explorer version 4.0 include additional Internet-related software. For example, with Internet Explorer 4.0, you also get:

• NetShow™ server
• NetMeeting® conferencing software
• ActiveX® controls
• Chat
• ActiveMovie™ application programming interface
• Active Channel™ webcast
• Subscriptions
• Dynamic HTML

NetShow server

This allows you to see and hear live and recorded broadcasts—such as concerts or breaking news with synchronized audio, graphics, video, URLs, and script commands. And streaming technology allows you to see or hear the information as it arrives instead of having to wait for the entire file to download.

NetMeeting conferencing software

With a sound card, speakers, and a microphone, you can talk to others worldwide—from family to colleagues—using NetMeeting. Add a Windows-compatible video capture card and/or camera to see them, too. Exchange pictures and draw diagrams on an electronic whiteboard, communicate with text-based chat, transfer files, and share applications.

ActiveX controls

ActiveX technology allows authors to develop innovative, highly interactive Web sites. ActiveX Controls are the software components that run behind the scenes in Internet Explorer so that these sites come alive for you.

Chat

This program lets you converse online in real time with one or more people. You decide how your message is displayed text only or text with graphics. You can send and receive sounds, files, and "hot" links of e-mail addresses, Web pages, and newsgroups. You can even "whisper" to another person in a group chat. Use it for your next online family reunion.

ActiveMovie application programming interface

ActiveMovie allows you to experience television-quality video and CD-quality audio, while minimizing file size and download time compared to other video and audio formats. By using "progressive downloading," ActiveMovie lets you start playing an audio or video clip while it's still downloading.

Active Channel

Active Channel webcasts enable dynamic information to be sent regularly to your computer. They automatically transmit content that fits your interests—everything from Disney entertainment to stock quotes. Use the Channel bar to select your favorite topics, and Internet Explorer 4.0 gets the information, so you can read it whenever you want—even offline.

Subscriptions

This feature delivers preferred information straight to your desktop, when you want it, in the way you want it—for free*. To subscribe to a Web site, select the site and specify when you want the information updated and how you want to be notified, such as through an e-mail message. Internet Explorer does the rest. Then you can browse the content offline.

Dynamic HTML

Internet Explorer 4.0 supports this programming language, which makes enticing, unique, fun, and fast-downloading Web pages possible. The pages download quickly because they are created using lightweight HTML instead of heavy-duty graphics. Round trips to the server are minimized, which means faster browser performance on your desktop computer.

Download Internet Explorer 4.0

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 takes advantage of everything you already know and like about the Windows® 95 operating system and Internet Explorer 3.0. Plus, it delivers the information you want straight to your computer. Combine this with the smart, new Web-search refinement tool, and getting information on your favorite subjects is a breeze. Best of all, Internet Explorer 4.0 has a unique suite of applications-such as e-mail, newsgroup readers, and Chat-that make it easy to share your ideas with family and friends.

Check out the Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 Web site to learn more about the exciting innovations of Internet Explorer 4.0. If you don't have Internet Explorer, you can download it from http://www.microsoft.com/ie .

If you don't have a Web browser, contact your Internet Service Provider to find out how to connect in order to download a Web browser.

Download free* beta of Internet Explorer 5.0

For the latest Internet browser technology, try Internet Explorer 5.0. Microsoft released a free* beta version of Internet Explorer 5.0 on November 4 to give PC enthusiasts the chance to check out the technology and provide feedback that will help Microsoft developers refine the product before the final release.

• Visit the Internet Explorer Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/ie to download the beta version.
• To learn more, read the Internet Explorer 5.0 section of this guide.

What is a URL?

A URL, or uniform resource locator, is the address of an Internet file. Usually it consists of four parts: protocol, server (or domain), path, and filename. Sometimes there's no path or file name. Here's an example:

http://www.microsoft.com/magazine/tips/default.htm

• http is the protocol.
• www.microsoft.com is the server, or domain.
• magazine/tips is the path.
• default.htm is the filename.

 

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Browser tips

Take advantage of all the great features of Microsoft® Internet Explorer version 4.0. These tips will help.

Spot the links

You can tell whether an item on a page is a link by moving the mouse pointer over the item. If the pointer changes to a hand, the item is a link. A link can be a picture, a three-dimensional image, or colored text (usually underlined). Click any link on a Web page to go to another page within that site or another site.

Display all Web pages faster

To display Web pages faster:

1. On the View menu in the browser, click Internet Options.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. In the Multimedia area, clear one or more of the Show pictures, Play animations, Play videos, or Play sounds check boxes.
4. If the Show pictures or Play videos check box is cleared, you can still display an individual picture or animation on a Web page by right-clicking its icon and then clicking Show Picture.
5. If the pictures on the current page are still visible after you clear the Show pictures check box, you can hide them by clicking the View menu and then clicking Refresh.

Display previously viewed pages faster

To display previously viewed pages faster:

1. On the View menu in the browser, click Internet Options.
2. On the General tab, click Settings.
3. To create more space to store pages temporarily, move the slider to the right.
4. To prevent Internet Explorer from updating pages in the Temporary Internet Files folder, click Never.

Change how page colors are displayed

To change how page colors are displayed:

1. On the View menu in the browser, click Internet Options.
2. Change the settings as needed.

Display text in a different font

To display text in a different font:

1. On the View menu in the browser, click Internet Options.
2. On the General tab, click Fonts.
3. In the Proportional and Fixed-width font lists, click the fonts you want.

Specify which font and color setting to always use

To specify which font and color settings to always use:

1. On the View menu in the browser, click Internet Options.
2. On the General tab, click Accessibility.
3. Change the settings as needed.

Display text larger or smaller

To display text larger or smaller:

• On the View menu, point to Fonts, and then click the size you want.

View Web pages in a different language

Some Web sites offer their content in several languages. You can add languages to your list of languages in Internet Explorer so that you can view these sites in your preferred language.

To view Web pages written in a different language:

1. On the View menu in the browser, click Internet Options.
2. On the General tab, click Languages.
3. Click Add.

Select the language you want to add.

• If you speak several languages, you can arrange them in order of priority. If a Web site offers multiple languages, it will supply content in the language with the highest priority.
• Adding languages does not guarantee that you have a font that can display Web pages in your preferred languages. You may need to download a multilanguage support pack to display pages in this language. To download multilanguage support packs, see the Internet Explorer download page.

Add a page to your Favorites

To add a page to your collection of favorite pages:

1. Go to the page you want to add to your collection of favorite pages.
2. On the Favorites menu, click Add to Favorites.

Type a new name for the page if you want to.

• To open one of your favorite pages, click the Favorites button on the toolbar, and then click the page you want to open.
• To keep track of your favorite ages, you can organize them into folders. Click the Create In button in the Add to Favorites dialog box.

Add Personal Computing to your Favorites

To make sure you always have access to the latest Internet news, software updates, and tips and tricks for using Internet Explorer, why not add the Personal Computing site to your Favorites list now?

To add the Personal Computing site to your Favorites list, follow these steps:

1. On the File menu of your Internet Explorer toolbar, point to New, and click Window, so you don't lose your place in this guide.
2. Under the File menu in the new window, click Open, and then type http://www.microsoft.com/insider/default.asp in the address box.
3. Click OK.
4. When the Personal Computing page has finished loading, on the Favorites menu, click Add to Favorites, and click OK.
5. Close the new window.

Organize your Favorites into folders

To organize your favorite pages into folders:

1. On the Favorites menu, click Organize Favorites.
2. Click Create New Folder, type a name for the folder, and then press ENTER.

Drag the shortcuts in the list to the appropriate folders.

• You might want to organize your pages by topic. For example, you could create a folder named Art for storing information about art exhibits and reviews.
• If the number of shortcuts or folders makes ragging impractical, you can use the Move button instead.

Change your home page

To change your home page:

1. Go to the page you want to appear when you first start Internet Explorer.
2. On the View menu, click Internet Options.
3. Click the General tab.
4. In the Home page area, click Use Current.
5. To restore your original home page, click Use Default.

Save text and graphics from the Web

When you see text or graphics on a Web page that you like or want to refer to later, you can save them on your computer's hard disk. Later, you can open the saved file and review it offline.

To save a text or source file:

1. On the toolbar, click File, and then click Save As.
2. Click Save to save the file.

To save a graphic

1. Right-click the graphic.
2. On the shortcut menu that appears, click Save Picture As.
3. Browse to the folder where you would like to save the file.
4. Click Save to save the file.

To open a saved file, double-click it from the folder where you've saved it. Microsoft Internet Explorer will start automatically, and your saved file will appear in the browser window.

Add a page to your Links bar

To add a page to your Links bar:

1. Drag the icon for the page from your Address bar to your Links bar.
2. Drag a link from a Web page to your Links bar.

Drag a link to the Links folder in your Favorites list: You can either drag it directly to the Favorites menu and then into the Links folder or you can drag it to the Links folder when displaying your Favorites in the Explorer bar.

• You can also can organize your links by dragging them to a different location on the Links bar.

Create a desktop shortcut to the current page

• Right-click the page, and then click Create Shortcut.
• If the Internet Explorer window is not maximized, you can also create a shortcut by dragging a link from the Internet Explorer window to the location you want, such as your desktop or a folder.

Return to a Web page you've already seen

There are several ways to return to a previously viewed Web page:

• To return to the last page you viewed, you can click the Back button on the toolbar, or press the BACKSPACE key.
• To see a list of the last few pages you visited, click the small down arrow beside the Back or Forward button. Then click the page you want.
• If you want to view one of the last five pages you visited in this session, click the File menu, and then on the list, click the page that you want to go to. This list is started fresh every time you start Internet Explorer.
• To view more pages, including pages you visited in previous sessions, click the History button on the toolbar, and then click the appropriate folder.

Change the appearance of the toolbar

To change the appearance of the toolbar:

• You can move or resize the Address bar or Links bar by dragging them up, down, left, or right. You can even move them into the menu bar.
• To make more room on your screen, you can hide toolbar button labels. Just right-click the toolbar, and then clear the check mark next to Text Labels.
• You can hide the Address bar or Links section of the toolbar by right-clicking the toolbar and then clearing the check mark for each item you want to hide.
• You can add items to the Links bar by dragging the icon from the Address bar or dragging a link from a page.
• You can rearrange items on the Links bar by dragging them to a new location on the bar.
• You can use smaller Microsoft Office-style toolbar buttons. On the View menu in a browser window, click Internet Options, and then click the Advanced tab. In the Toolbar area, select the Small icons check box.

The cache and toolbar

You've arrived at this page, so you must already know something about how to use a Web browser. Just in case you haven't yet used some of the features of Microsoft® Internet Explorer, here's a guide to them.

Cache

When you explore the Web, your browser keeps track of the pages you've visited and saves them on your hard disk so they'll load faster when you return to them. This saves you time and money because you can view the saved pages without being connected to the Internet. The saved files—your "temporary Internet files"—are stored in your disk cache.

To empty your Internet Explorer disk cache

When you browse, your disk cache can fill up with files you no longer need. Here's how to empty your Internet Explorer disk cache.

For Internet Explorer version 3.0:

1. On the View menu of your Internet Explorer toolbar, click Options.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. In the Temporary Internet Files area, click Settings.
4. Then click the Empty Folder button.

For Internet Explorer version 4.0:

1. On the View menu of your Internet Explorer toolbar, click Internet Options.
2. Click the General tab.
3. In the Temporary Internet files area, click Delete Files, then click OK.
4. Click OKto close Internet Options.

To change the size of your Internet Explorer disk cache

You can change the amount of hard-disk space reserved for your disk cache. A larger disk cache may display previously visited pages faster, but it will decrease the amount of hard-disk space available for other files. Here's how to set the size of your disk cache.

For Internet Explorer 3.0:

1. On the View menu of your Internet Explorer toolbar, click Options.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. In the Temporary Internet Files area, click Settings.
4. Move the arrow on the Amount of Disk Space to Use slider to the percentage of disk space you want designated to your disk cache.
5. Click OK to save your settings.

For Internet Explorer 4.0:

1. On the View menu of your Internet Explorer toolbar, click Internet Options.
2. Click the General tab.
3. In the Temporary Internet Files area, click Settings.
4. Move the arrow on the Amount of Disk Space to Use slider to the percentage of disk space you want designated for your disk cache, then click OK.
5. Click OK to close Internet Options.

Toolbar

The Internet Explorer toolbar consists of buttons that are shortcuts for menu commands. They make browsing faster and easier. Click any button on the toolbar below to find out its function.

 

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Back. Lets you return to pages you've viewed, beginning with the most recent. With Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0, right-click the Back button, and select from a list of recently visited sites.

Forward. Lets you move forward through pages you've viewed using the Back button. With Internet Explorer 4.0, right click the Forward button, and select from a list of recently visited sites.

Stop. Halts the process of downloading a Web page. Click this if you want to stop downloading a page for any reason if you're having trouble downloading it, for example, or if you don't want to wait for it to download. Then try downloading it again or browse elsewhere.

Refresh. Updates any Web page stored in your disk cache with the latest content. (When you return to a page you've visited, your browser displays the file stored in your disk cache, rather than the current page on the World Wide Web. This saves download time.)

Home. Returns you to your home page. You can designate any Web page as your home page.

Search. Displays a choice of popular Internet search engines in the left pane. Your search results appear in the left pane, too. When you click a link, the page appears in the right pane, so you don't lose sight of your search results.

Favorites. Displays a list of the sites (and, with Internet Explorer 4.0, the folders, files, and servers) that you've saved as Favorites. Click on any item in the list to jump to it.

Print. Prints the page you're viewing. This is one way to save information from the Internet so that you don't have to reconnect to view it again. You can even print the URL associated with each hyperlink, making it easy to navigate to the site later.

Font. Lets you display text in a larger or smaller font with Internet Explorer 4.0.

Mail. Connects you to Microsoft Outlook® Express messaging and collaboration client so you can read electronic mail (e-mail) and newsgroup messages.

Edit. Opens a file in Microsoft Word word processor that contains the HTML code for the page you're viewing so you can see and even edit it.

What is HTML?

HTML, or hypertext markup language, is a programming language used to build Web sites. It contains standard codes, or tags, that determine how a Web page looks when your browser displays it. HTML tags also make possible the hyperlinks that connect information on the World Wide Web.

See the "Creating a Web Site" section.

Why do some Web pages take so long to download?

Many factors affect how fast a Web page travels from its Web site to your computer. Web pages may load slowly for these reasons:

• Your modem transmits data slowly.
• Traffic on the Internet is heavy.
• The page's file is large. It contains graphic, sound, or video files, for example, in addition to text.
• The server and connecting lines used by your online service, your Internet service provider, or the Web site transmit data slowly.

To decrease download time, try these pointers:

• Get the latest version of your browser.
• Buy a faster modem that transmits at a rate of at least 28,800 baud.
• Browse during off-peak hours.
• Turn off sound and images in your browser. Text-only pages load faster.
• If a page is loading so slowly that you tink it may be stuck, click the Stop button on your browser's toolbar, and try to load the page again in a few minutes.

What is Active Desktop?

Active Desktop™ interface is a feature of Microsoft® Internet Explorer version 4.0 that allows your desktop to function like a browser. Here are some of the things you can do using Active Desktop:

• Get easy, instant access to your most-used applications, including tools such as corporate directories and search engines.
• Display multiple HTML pages and pictures from the World Wide Web or your local network or hard disk.
• Create windows on your desktop for the objects you're interested in so the information you need is delivered directly to you.
• Place ActiveX® and Java components alongside existing desktop icons, giving you customizable space for your favorite Web content and notifications of new e-mail.

What is FTP, and what does it have to do with downloading?

FTP is short for "file transfer protocol." It's a system of rules for communicating over the Internet, and it allows you to transfer files to and download files from other computers. A browser such as Microsoft® Internet Explorer contains the tools you need to handle FTPs. So with Internet Explorer, you can download any file available on the Internet.

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Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0

For the latest Internet browser technology, try Microsoft® Internet Explorer Internet browser version 5.0. Microsoft released a free* beta version of Internet Explorer 5.0 on November 4 to give PC enthusiasts the chance to check out the technology and provide feedback that will help developers refine the product before the final release.

• What's new?
• What's included?
• For the pros

What's new?

Using Microsoft IntelliSense® technology, Internet Explorer simplifies and automates common browsing tasks-like searching, navigating, and organizing and accessing information-and offers users more flexibility.

Here are some examples of changes that users will see.

Searching

With Search Assistant, get more useful search results by specifying beforehand the type of information you're looking for (such as an address, Web page, company, or map) and using a search engine geared toward this type.

Favorites

When you add a Web page to your Favorites, select "Make available offline" to store the most recently viewed version for offline use. Easily create, move, rename, or delete folders or files from Favorites with the Organize button. Right-click a Favorite to see options, such as printing.

History

List your History sites by date visited, site name, number of visits, or order you visited today. Use the search tool to find keywords on any of the pages you visited.

The Go button

If you prefer, click Go, rather than pressing ENTER, after you type a uniform resource locator (URL) in the address bar.

Automated features

To speed and simplify your browsing experience, Internet Explorer 5.0 includes the following:

• AutoComplete-Provides a drop-down list of choices that match what you're typing
• AutoCorrect-Fixes typos as you type
• AutoSearch-Gives you Web search results when you type part of a URL in the address bar
• AutoInstall-Installs an Internet Explorer 5.0 component required by a Web page
• AutoDetect-Gives you visual cues about what's accessible offline
• AutoConfiguration-Locates and connects to the appropriate proxy server if you use one to connect to a network

Web accessories

These are developed and distributed by major Web sites to work in conjunction with their sites and customize aspects of your Internet Explorer 5.0, such as your toolbar and menu items. Some sites have already developed custom Explorer bars, for instance.

Customization

Easily choose the search engine(s) that search Assistant uses, your default e-mail client, your home page, and (with Content Advisor) the sites that your kids can or can't visit.

What's included?

Here's a quick list of what's included in the full installation of Microsoft® Internet Explorer Web browser version 5.0 and Internet tools beta:

• Internet Explorer 5.0 Web Browser - For browsing the World Wide Web
• Microsoft Outlook® Express 5.0 - For exchanging electronic mail and subscribing to newsgroups
• Microsoft Windows® Media Player 6.0 - For playing multimedia files
• Microsoft Chat 2.5 - For communicating in chat rooms
• Microsoft NetMeeting® 2.11 conferencing software - For holding virtual meetings with colleagues, friends, or family
• Microsoft FrontPage® Express 2.0 Web site creation and management tool - For creating Web pages without the knowing hypertext markup language (HTML)
• Web Publishing Wizard 1.6 - For publishing pages on the Web
• Microsoft virtual machine - For running Java applications on your computer
• Internet Connection Wizard - For signing up with an Internet service provider (ISP) and connecting to the Internet
• Offline browsing pack - For browsing when you're not connected
• Wallet 3 - For shopping easily and securely on the Web
• Agent 2.0 - For viewing animated characters on the Web
• Internet Explorer Help - For finding important information about using the browser
• Internet Explorer core fonts - For using TrueType fonts created for on-screen viewing
• Dynamic HTML data binding - For quickly sorting through information on the Web
• Internet Explorer browsing enhancements - For working with file transfer protocol (FTP) files and folders
• VRML 2.0 viewer - For viewing virtual reality features on the Web pages
• Direct Animation - For enjoying animation and multimedia capabilities
• Vector graphics rendering - For viewing and creating clear vector graphics
• AOL ART image format support - For viewing images created in the AOL ART file format
• Microsoft Visual Basic® scripting support - For running scripts faster
• Additional Web fonts - For viewing more Web fonts

For the pros

To aid information technology (IT) professionals, Internet Explorer 5.0 supports the latest in World Wide Web technologies-such as dynamic hypertext markup language (DHTML) behaviors, XSL, XML 1.0, HTML 4.0, CSS 2.0, Document Object Model, and ECMA-262 compliant scripting-for easy and fast development of Web-based applications. And it's componentized, so developers can use portions of the code to enhance their own products. Internet Explorer 5.0 also automates functions that traditionally fell to IT administrators in corporations.

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How Do I Search?

Once you get connected to the Internet, you need to know how to find the Web sites and newsgroups that interest you. You may find, as many people do, that it's fun just to wander—or surf—from site to site, going wherever the links take you. But if you want to find something specific and find it as soon as possible, you need to use a search engine. Here are the basics of searching.

• Search engines: Finding the needle in the haystack
• Deja News: Searching for newsgroups
• Tips for searching

Search engines: Finding the needle in the haystack

A search engine is a service that indexes, organizes, and often rates and reviews Web sites. It helps you find the needle that one Web site you've got to see in the Internet haystack. Different search engines work in different ways.

• Some rely on people to maintain a catalog of Web sites or pages.
• Some use software to identify key information on sites across the Internet.
• Some combine both types of service.

So when you search their "holdings," you're bound to get different results.

Which one should I use?

No search engine keeps track of all the content on the Internet. Even the major search engines—such as MSN™ Web Search, AltaVista, Infoseek, Lycos, and Snap—won't give you everything. (Some studies indicate that even the top search engines find less than half of what's really out there!) So try several search engines to see which produce the most useful results for the types of information you usually look for. Whenever a search fails to produce the results you wanted, try another search engine.

Here's a quick introduction to some of the major search engines:

• MSN Web Search. Using this search page, you can conduct a basic Web search or an advanced search, specifying one or more of the following: the type of information, the language, the origin, the domain, the date created, and the types of files contained in the Web page.
• AltaVista. At AltaVista, you can search for keywords or type your query in the form of a question. Other features include Babelfish, which translates sites in several languages; Photo Finder, which searches for images; Family Filter, which helps you limit the types of results produced by search.
• Infoseek. Infoseek's search engine boasts an extensive catalog of sites. Infoseek has a directory, too, that categorizes sits by topic using software. Some sites have been reviewed and are recommended.
• Lycos. Like Excite and Infoseek, Lycos is a search engine with a directory, organized by subject. You can also search the Lycos service "Top 5%," sites considered by its reviewers to be among the top five percent of sites on the Internet.
• Snap. Snap is a directory of Web sites that the Snap directory team has chosen, divided into topic areas, and summarized. Within each topic area, sites are divided into more specific subjects to help you locate the type of information you want. Snap's top picks are marked with a "Best" icon.
• Excite. A hybrid search engine, Excite fulfills the traditional search engine definition (it is always visiting Web sites and cataloging them using a software program) but also has a directory-a subsection of its cataloged sites, which have been reviewed by people.
• Yahoo! This is actually a directory rather than a search engine, meaning humans compile and categorize the sites it searches. So you may get fewer results. But Yahoo! makes it easy to search for sites by category and to continue your search using a search engine, if you want to.
• Metacrawler. Rather than keeping its own database of Web sites, Metacrawler conducts your search simultaneously on several search engines, including Excite, Infoseek, Lycos, and Yahoo! This takes a little longer than using just one search engine, but it's likely to yield a more comprehensive set of results.

Major search sites generally provide more than a search engine for finding Web sites. They also allow you to look up information such as recent news stories, newsgroup postings, reference material (such as dictionary entries and maps), and e-mail addresses, street addresses, and telephone numbers of business and individuals.

Here are two guidelines for picking a search engine:

• If you're looking for a broad, common topic, such as how to buy a personal computer, use a search engine that tends to give you fewer results of higher quality (usually the type that relies on people to catalog sites), such as Yahoo!
• If you're looking for a rare topic, such as 19th-century Hungarian authors, use a site that may be less discriminate but yields more results (usually the type compiled by a software program), such as Excite.

Deja News: Searching newsgroups

Usenet newsgroups are Internet discussion groups on just about any topic you can imagine. (There are more than 50,000 newsgroups, and more are added all the time.) Do you suffer from migraines? Check out the newsgroup alt.support.headaches.migraine for support. Are you the owner of hunting dogs? Visit rec.hunting.dogs. Here are some more examples of newsgroups to give you an idea of the variety that's out there:

• sci.physics.fusion
• soc.genealogy.hispanic
• biz.jobs.offered
• rec.arts.animation
• alt.autos.antique

And, of course, there are plenty of newsgroups about computing.

The Deja News search engine allows you to search millions of newsgroup messages to find a specific topic that interests you. It also allows you to post your own message in response to what you read. The Deja News site is a good place to learn more about newsgroups, in general, too.

Tips for searching

Whatever search engine you use, these tips will help you find what you're looking for.

• General searching
• Searching with Microsoft® Internet Explorer version 4.0

General searching

Use more than one search engine.

No search engine indexes all Web sites and Web pages. So if your first search doesn't produce the results you wanted, try searching with at least one other searching engine.

Read the "About" page.

Many search engines have a link that leads to detailed information about how the search engine compiles and searches through information and how to get the best results from it. Reading this page can save you a lot of time and headaches. Also, visit search engine home page links with names like "How To," "Search Help," and "Advanced Search" for searching tips.

Get targeted results by being specific.

The more specific your search word, the more targeted your search results will be. If you search for the words Labrador retriever, for example, rather than the word dog, your search will yield fewer sites, but they will be targeted to the type of dog that interests you.

Get more results by being general.

If your search word is too specific, your search may yield few or no results. To get more results, try searching for a related word that is more general.

Define your search using Boolean operators. The major search engines let you select whether to search for the exact phrase you typed, all the words in the phrase but not necessarily together, any of the words in a phrase, and so on. A few search engines do not give you such options. In this case, you can define the search yourself by adding one or more words or symbols to your search topic.

• AND. To search for two (or more) terms on the same page: Type the word AND between the terms. (Example: sea AND kayak.) Or put a plus sign right before the second term. (Example: sea +kayak.)
• OR. To search for either of two (or more) terms on the same page: Type the word OR between the terms. (Example: kayak OR canoe.)
• AND NOT. To search for pages that include the first term and not the second: Type the words AND NOT between the terms. (Example: kayak AND NOT whitewater.) Or put a minus sign right before the second term. (Example: kayak -whitewater.)
• "". To search for an exact phrase: Enclose the phrase in quotation marks. (Example: "sea kayak rental".)
• (). To group parts of your search: Enclose them in parentheses. (Example: kayak AND (gear OR equipment). This returns pages with both the words kayak and gear or with both the words kayak and equipment.)
• *. To search for various forms of a word: Add an asterisk to the end of the word. (Example: kayak*. This returns pages with the words kayak, kayaks, kayaked, kayaking, and so on.)

Searching with Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0

Search the Internet with a search engine—using Internet Explorer 4.0.

On the toolbar, click the Search button.

1. In the Search bar that appears in the left pane of your Internet Explorer window, choose your preferred search engine from the drop-down list in the box labeled Select provider.
2. Depending on the search engine you've chosen, you may now have some options for configuring your search. Make your selections, or accept the default selections.
3. In the appropriate text box, type the word or phrase you're looking for, and then click Search, Submit, or Go Get It, depending on the search engine.
4. The search results appear in the list within the Search bar. Click on any link to open the associated Web page in the right pane of your Internet Explorer window.
5. Any time you want to pursue another link from the search results, click it. The new Web page will open in the right pane.
6. To hide the Search bar, click the Search button on the toolbar again.

Search the Internet from the Address bar—using Internet Explorer 4.0.

1. In the Address bar, type go, find, or ? followed by a space and the word or phrase you want to find. For example, type Go Labrador retriever.
2. In the list of search results, click a link to display the Web page.

Note: This AutoSearch feature uses only one search service to find information.

Search for text on the current Web page—using Internet Explorer 4.0.

1. On the Edit menu, click Find (on this page).
2. Type the text you want to find.
3. Change any settings as needed.
4. Click Find Next.

Find a Web site when a URL doesn't work—using Internet Explorer 4.0

If the Uniform Resource Locator (URL), or Web address, that you type in the Address bar or click on a Web page doesn't work, try this to correct the address:

1. On the View menu, click Internet Options.
2. Click the Advanced tab.

Scroll to Searching. Under Search when URL fails:

• If you want Internet Explorer to ask if you want it to search for a similar address, click Always ask.
• If you want Internet Explorer to search without asking first, click Always search.
• If you don't want Internet Explorer to search for a similar address, click Never search.
3. If you want Internet Explorer to search for the address using a different domain, select the Autoscan common root domains check box under Searching. (A domain is specified by the three-letter extension—such as .org, .edu, .com, and .gov-in the address. It tells you a site's type. If you select the Autoscan common root domains option, Internet Explorer will check the root of your URL with other domain extensions.)
4. Click OK.
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Getting Online

There's more than one way to access the World Wide Web. Many people browse the Web from their desktop computer with the help of a modem and telephone line. But you can get Web content in other ways, too- including through your television, at cybercafes, at many libraries, at some airports, and even in your car. Peruse these sections to learn about your options.

• Choosing an Internet service provider
• WebTV
• PC TV with Windows 98
• Cybercafés
• Free Internet access at libraries
• Access at the airport
• On the go with Handheld PC and Palm-size PC devices
• In your car with Auto PC

Choosing an Internet Service Provider

An Internet service provider (ISP) gives you the telephone access and software you need to connect to the Internet, along with some technical help. Many ISPs also include an electronic-mail account, host customers' Web pages, and offer services to companies that do business on the Internet. You can choose from local or national ISPs.

What about online service providers?

An online service provider, can connect you to the Internet, too, and provide technical support. Online service providers also offer special features and content. For an online service provider's home page may provide links to many useful Internet sites such as a city guide site or sites about investing, buying a car, or getting started on the Internet in addition to access to your e-mail, the World Wide Web, and newsgroups. Online service providers tend to offer service nationwide, which is why they can afford to provide extras to their customers.

Consider these factors

To identify ISPs and online service providers in your area, look under "Internet products and services" or a similar topic in your local yellow pages, or search for them online through Microsoft's MSN Web Search at http://search.msn.com. Then call their customer service number and ask the representative about these aspects of their service.

Dialing in. Does the ISP or online service provider offer service through a telephone number in your area? Does it offer a local telephone number or toll-free number in areas you expect to travel to?

Access. How often will you actually get through, rather than get a busy signal, when you dial in? (Don't just rely on a customer service representative for this information. Try calling the connection number several times at different times of the day, and see what results you get.)

Technical support and customer service. Are there knowledgeable, friendly technical support and customer service people available whenever you need them? Is the telephone call toll-free? How long will you have to wait on hold? Can you get technical support and customer service online?

E-mail. Does the service provide an e-mail account, and can you access your account through another ISP if you're outside a local ISP's area?

Web pages. Can you post a Web site on the ISP's server? How much space can you get for your page and at what cost? Will you be charged based on the amount of traffic your page gets? Will the server support CGI scripting (necessary if your page includes a form)?

Performance. How quickly does the service deliver your e-mail? (The industry average time is within 5 minutes 95 percent of the time.) How long does it take for Web pages to download? (The average is just over 40 seconds for popular consumer pages.) How often does the service experience failures and for how long?

Upgrades. Can you upgrade to a faster modem or to ISDN service?

Price. Many services offer different monthly subscriptions, including unlimited access for a flat monthly fee and limited hours for a flat monthly fee with additional hours, as needed, for an extra charge. When you compare ISP and online service provider prices, consider the factors above as well as the special features and content that the online service providers offer.

Internet Connection Wizard

The Microsoft® Windows® 98 operating system includes a new Internet Connection Wizard, which makes it easy for you to set up your very first connection to your ISP or online service provider. It includes a national list of ISPs and online service providers for you to choose from. The wizard automatically sets up your system to connect you to the Internet using the ISP you choose.

WebTV

When you hook up the WebTV® Plus system to your regular television set, you can surf the Internet, watch traditional TV programs, do both at the same time, or watch enhanced programs right on your TV. (Enhanced TV programs allow you to link to more information about whatever you're watching such as a baseball player's statistics or a biography of a show's star.)

By bringing you both the Internet and television programming, WebTV unlocks new worlds of entertainment and learning. Just put the receiver on top of your TV and connect the two. The receiver includes a 3D graphics engine, a 3-in-1 stereo tuner, a 1.1 gigabyte internal hard drive, and the capability to print the Internet content you find. You can even store information to view later. And it's easy to switch between a Web site and television.

Several companies already offer Internet access via TV. WebTV Networks, Inc., a leading developer of Net-television technology, offers subscribers a Web connection, newsgroup access, e-mail accounts for up to six people, and WebTV Plus.

PC TV with Windows 98

WaveTop® for Windows 98 makes it possible to get Internet content without tying up your telephone line, while you watch regular and enhanced television programs on your computer. To do this, you need:

• Microsoft® Windows® 98 or Windows 95 operating system
• WaveTop software, which is part of Windows 98
• compatible TV tuner card
• antenna or cable TV hook-up

With these, your computer can receive Internet content that's broadcast over PBS's closed-captioning wavelength, as well as TV broadcasts. Providers broadcasting Internet content include USA Today, Time, The Weather Channel, CBS SportsLine, People, Fortune, and PBS Online. You select the content you want. Then it's delivered to and stored on your hard disk so you can take a look at it whenever you want.

As for TV broadcasts, you can get regular TV programs as well as enhanced program, which combine traditional TV with interactive elements. With enhanced TV, additional information about the program is just a click away.

Cybercafés

If you don't have regular access to a computer at home, or if you just feel like being social, visit a cybercafé, or Internet café. These establishments, which provide (for a fee) computer and Internet access to customers, along with coffee, other refreshments, and food, have been springing up all over the country/region in the past few years.

Free Internet access at libraries

If you don't have Internet access at home, check with your local library to find out whether it provides personal computers and Internet access for public use. Many provide these, along with instruction on how to access the Internet, free to visitors with a library card.

Closing the gap

Low-income families are far less likely than their higher-income neighbors to have access to the Internet on a home computer at a time when computer literacy is more important than ever. Thanks to the nation's libraries, Microsoft, and the Gates Library Foundation (created by Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda), this gap is starting to close.

Libraries Online!

Microsoft teamed up with the American Library Association and the Technology Resource Institute from 1995 to 1997 to make computers and the Internet more accessible through a program called Libraries Online! The program provided grants, training, and technical assistance to libraries across the United States, Canada, and Ireland, to help them give the public access to computers and the Internet and to provide some of their services online, too. (Try searching the Internet to see whether your library has its own Web site.)

For the future

The Gates Library Foundation, established in 1997, builds on the Libraries Online! program. The foundation works with libraries in low-income areas to get them the computer equipment and technology training they need to provide access and assistance to their visitors. In five years, the Gateses plan to contribute $200 million to the effort. Microsoft will match their donation with software.

Access at the airport

Stuck waiting for a flight to Poughkeepsie? Why not check your e-mail? Some airlines and airports provide Internet kiosks (computer stations from which you can access the Internet) or locations where you can plug in your portable computer for Internet access. Check with individual airlines and airports to find out whether they offer these services and what you need to do in order to use them.

On the go with Handheld PC and Palm-size PC devices

Handheld PC, designed to fit into a jacket pocket or purse, and Palm-size PC, about the size of your hand, let you take electronic-mail messages and Internet content with you wherever you go. The Microsoft® Windows® CE operating system powers both of these types of handheld computers. With a Handheld PC, you can dial up and connect to a server when you're away from your desktop computer so you can receive e-mail and browse the World Wide Web. With a Palm-size PC, you can download e-mail and Internet content from your desktop to read on your Palm-size PC when it's convenient for you.

In the car with Auto PC

With Auto PC powered by Microsoft® Windows® CE operating system, you've even got access to the Internet when you hit the highway. Using simple voice commands, you can listen to your electronic-mail messages and have Internet content delivered wirelessly and read to you as you drive.

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All About E-Mail

Electronic mail (e-mail) gives you a fast, cheap way to send information all over the world and to receive information through your very own e-mail mailbox, or "inbox." It can take the place of telephone calls, faxes, courier shipments, and traditional letter mail. Use it to keep in touch with friends, family, and business contacts. More than 80 million people worldwide already do. Here's how.

• Basics of sending and receiving
• What about attachments?
• The scoop on newsgroups

Basics of sending and receiving

To send and receive electronic-mail messages, or e-mail, over the Internet, and to organize your messages, you need an e-mail account. You can get this through an Internet service provider or online service provider. You also need an e-mail client—e-mail software for your computer. Your e-mail client creates an Inbox on your computer. When you check your e-mail, new messages are downloaded into your Inbox.

Pick an e-mail client

Here are some examples of e-mail clients:

Microsoft® Outlook™ 98—a messaging and collaboration client; provides advanced e-mail, calendar, and contact management and a platform for workgroup information sharing when used with Microsoft Exchange Server. You can download Outlook 98 for free from the Microsoft Office Web site.

Hotmail—the world's leading provider of free e-mail (it's supported by advertising). Because it is Web-based, everything you need to use Hotmail resides on the Internet, rather than your computer. So you can use Hotmail on any computer that has access to the Internet. If you travel, move, or change your Internet service provider, your Hotmail e-mail address and service stay the same.

Microsoft Outlook Express—designed for users who need fast, reliable e-mail and newsgroup functionality without the full capabilities of Outlook. Outlook Express is included in the Microsoft Windows® 98 operating system and is especially easy to use if you're using Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0 Web browser.

Microsoft Exchange—automatically included in the Microsoft Windows 95 operating system

A little terminology

There are many acronyms associated with e-mail. Here are some that you may come across:

SMTP—Simple Mail Transport Protocol, the standard rules that many e-mail clients use to handle outgoing e-mail messages.

POP3—Post Office Protocol version 3, the standard rules that many e-mail clients use to handle incoming e-mail messages.

E-mail clients built on standards like SMTP and POP3 can share information with each other, so we don't all need to use the same e-mail client. To set up your e-mail client, you may need to know your SMTP server address and your POP3 server address. If so, your Internet service provider (ISP) can give you this information. Some e-mail clients use programs called wizards to help you get set up.

MIME—Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, a format for turning an e-mail attachment, such as a Microsoft Word file, into ASCII text so it can be sent from one e-mail account to another.

Anatomy of an e-mail address

To send a message to someone, you must type his or her e-mail address in the "To" section of your e-mail message. Generally, there are two parts to an e-mail address: Your logon identity and the identity of your ISP. These are separated by the symbol @. A typical e-mail address for someone who uses Hotmail, for example, looks like this: yourname@hotmail.com

The extension—.com—indicates that Hotmail is a commercial establishment. Other common extensions are .gov (for government users) and .edu (for educational users). E-mail addresses outside of the United States may also include letters that indicate the country/region of the user's ISP.

What about attachments?

You can send more than simple text in your electronic-mail messages. You can also attach computer documents—including word-processor, spreadsheet, graphic, and video files—to an e-mail message. So e-mail is a useful way to share files that more than one person wants or needs.

With Microsoft® Outlook™ 98, e-mail gets even more sophisticated. Outlook 98 allows you to send messages on HTML "stationery," which contains background graphics and special, preselected font designs and colors to match.

Special notes

• The person who receives your e-mail with an attachment can open the attachment if he or she has the program in which the attachment was created.
• If the recipient does not have the program you used to create your attachment, he or she may be able to get the appropriate viewer, such as Microsoft® Word viewer or Microsoft PowerPoint® viewer. A viewer contains the components of a program needed to display a file created with the full version of the program.
• To send an attachment, your e-mail client converts the attachment's digital code into ASCII text, using a format such as uuencode or MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions). In order for the recipient to read the attachment, the recipient's e-mail client must be able to decode this format, or he or she must have another program that can decode it.

The scoop on newsgroups

If your e-mail client is also a newsreader, you can use it to subscribe to, read messages from, and post messages to newsgroups, online discussions on practically any topic. Microsoft® Internet Explorer version 4.0 makes newsgroup access easy, too. On the Go menu, simply select News. Internet Explorer automatically launches Microsoft Outlook Express™ and opens your newsgroups folder so you can get down to business.

Here are some newsgroup basics:

• Each newsgroup covers a particular topic, often alluded to in its name.
• A newsgroup is really a discussion string comprised of a series of related messages. Each message responds to an earlier message or addresses the overall newsgroup topic in some way. You can post your own message in response to the messages that interest you most.
• You can find newsgroups that may interest you by searching for them through the Deja News Web site.
• Together, newsgroups make up Usenet, which you can think of as part of the Internet.

Before you join in:

• Read a newsgroup's FAQ, or frequently asked questions, file first to learn more about the group. (Almost all newsgroups have a FAQ.)
• Check whether the newsgroup has a file containing its charter and rules. If it does, read this before you post messages.
• Read a good portion of a discussion string before joining in. Others in the discussion will appreciate that you took the time to get familiar with the conversation first.
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Find It on the Internet

The Internet is a worldwide network of computers that allows you to send and receive information practically instantly. You'll be amazed at what you can find on the Internet with just a little bit of surfing. Whatever you can think to look for, someone else has probably thought to provide. Here's your guide to what the Internet carries.

• What's on the Web?
• Are the Internet and the Web the same thing?
• Web links to get you started
• What are newsgroups?
• What's a FAQ?
• What are Usenet, FTP, and gopher?

What's on the Web?

The World Wide Web is home to millions of Web sites, set up by businesses, agencies, institutions, individuals, and others. You name it, it's probably somewhere on the Web. Ever heard of a narwhal? It's a whale that sports a long horn on its forehead and lives in the Arctic ocean and, yes, it's the subject of multiple sites on the Web. Here's a guide to some of the slightly less obscure Web information that you might want to explore.

Shopping

Shop and buy instantly on the Web at the sites of individual companies or through mall-like sites that connect you to thousands of "stores." Such sites allow you to browse through products and services and even order and pay for them online. Here are some sites you might want to try.

• From The Microsoft Plaza at http://plaza.msn.com , you can connect to merchants in numerous categories, including books and music, clothes and accessories, computers and electronics, and home and garden.
• At Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com ), you can browse or search through millions of titles for a book that suits you and then purchase it online. The site also includes book reviews, interviews with authors, articles about the book world, and more. Amazon.com sells sheet music, CDs, and audio books, too.
• If you're into music, check out CDNow at http://www.cdnow.com. Search for a CD by artist, title, song title, record label, or soundtrack. Or browse through categories including rock/pop, world/new age, classical, and others.

To find shopping sites, search for the name of your favorite companies, products, or stores, or just search for the word "shopping," and peruse the results.

• You can use directories, such as the All-Internet Shopping Directory at http://www.all-internet.com , to locate online buying opportunities.
• Try visiting the Internet Mall at http://www.shopnow.com , a site that links you to 27,000 stores and brand names, selling products from computers, to flowers, to dental services.

Banking and investing

The Internet is full of information and services related to banking and investing, from general advice about planning for retirement to up-to-the-minute stock prices. Plus, more and more banks are offering their customers online access to their bank accounts. You can also manage your own stock portfolio online. (See the Internet Guide chapter Online Banking and Investing.)

• For an introduction to the financial services available on the Internet, read Personal Computing's feature story "Online Banking and Investing: It's Safe and Easy."
• On the MSN MoneyCentral Web site (http://moneycentral.msn.com ), you can find guidance on virtually every aspect of money management, including saving, taxes, home buying, online banking, investing, and retirement planning. The sites offers informative articles, practical tools, useful resources, and more.
• Find out about Microsoft Money 99 Financial Suite personal financial management software at the Money 99 Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/money. Money 99 Financial Suite provides complete planning and tracking tools, personalized guidance, and online information, integrated in one resource.
• To learn some of the basics of investing, visit the Web site of the Association of Individual Investors at http://www.aaii.com/invbas , too.

News

No need to wait for the morning paper to find out what's happening in the world. Many news sites on the Web are updated repeatedly throughout the day. So you can get the latest on world events, sports, weather, and more, whenever you want it.

• MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.com ), the most popular news site on the Web, brings you the latest national and international news, weather, business and sports news, and more. You can even get local news by identifying your local affiliate.
• For the latest information about weather around the world, turn to The Weather Channel at http://www.weather.com/twc/homepage.twc. Besides getting the top weather stories, you can access current forecasts in many U.S. cities and view a variety of weather maps.
• ESPN Sportszone (http://espn.sportszone.com ), which provides in-depth coverage of a variety of sports, up-to-the-minute scores for ongoing games, and more, is another popular Web site.
• At home.microsoft.com (http://home.microsoft.com ), you can even customize the news, weather and stock quotes you want to see. Once you select your preferences, subsequent visits to the Web site deliver your customized content in the order you want it to appear.
• The home page of your favorite search engine may have links to news articles. Click on the News link at Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com ), for example, and you get a list of detailed topics-such as top stories, business, politics, entertainment, and health-to choose from. These take you to story titles and summaries, which you can click to get the full story.
• If you have a favorite newspaper, search for it on the Web. There are online versions of just about every major newspaper. The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com ), for instance, publishes an online edition, which is updated throughout the day to include breaking news.

Reference

The Internet provides you with access to numerous reference materials, including the collections of many libraries, research facilities, museums, and similar institutions. You can find information as simple as the definition of a word and as complex as the latest in scientific research.

• Microsoft Encarta® Online at http://encarta.msn.com/EncartaHome.asp is an interactive encyclopedia full of information about cultures, events, discoveries, and more from all over the world. From the Encarta Online home page, you can search for any topic.
• You can access "Familiar Quotations: Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources" by Bartlett through the Web site of Columbia University at http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/bartlett .
• The Internet Public Library at http://www.ipl.com is an online collection of hyperlinks to hundreds of other resources, including magazines, newspapers, almanacs, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other online libraries, so it's a good place to start looking for reference material.
• The Library of Congress Web site ( http://www.loc.gov includes exhibits, publications, catalogs, photographs, and more.
• Find out if your local library has a Web site. You may be able to access parts of its collection or databases for periodicals and other materials through the site. To search for your library (or others) online, start at the References: Libraries ( http://www.yahoo.com/Reference/Libraries ) category of the Yahoo! directory.

Miscellany

Part of what makes the Web interesting and valuable is that it's easy for not only large companies and organizations but also smaller entities and even individuals to maintain their own Web sites. So there's something for everyone on the Web.

Shopping, banking and investing, news, and reference materials are just the tip of the iceberg. There's also plenty in the way of entertainment and fun, obscure topics, and eccentric interests. Here are just a few examples of some of the variety on the Web.

• National Geographic Online ( http://www.nationalgeographic.com )—where you can access the National Geographic Society's photographs, maps, globes, magazines, expeditions, travel tips, and more
• The Dilbert Zone ( http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert )—home of your favorite, cubicle-bound cartoon character
• Art Museum Network ( http://www.amn.org )—a guide to the world's leading art museums and calendars of their exhibitions
• NASA ( http://www.nasa.gov )—in-depth information, including photographs from space and sections specially designed for kids, about space exploration and the programs and astronauts of the National Aeronautics & Space Administration
• Left Hand Publishing ( http://www.lefthandpublishing.com )—"dedicated to making life easier and more enjoyable for left-handed people"

To get an idea of what else is out there, explore the Web using one or more search engines. Type in any topic, see what comes up, and surf from site to site.

For starters

The Web also includes starter sites, Web sites designed to help new users find their way around the Web. Microsoft Internet Start is one example.

• When you visit the site, click Internet on the left of the home page to get a list of "Best of the Web" categories, including business, health, entertainment, sports, and more. Click a category heading to get a list links to top Web sites in that category.
• From the Internet Start home page, you can also click Microsoft Internet Magazine ( http://home.microsoft.com/reading/default.asp ) on the left of the screen. This takes you to articles about what's on the Internet and how to use it.

Are the Internet and the Web the same thing?

The Internet and the World Wide Web (sometimes abbreviated W3) are closely related but not the same.

• The Internet is a decentralized global network of computers.
• The Web is a collection of documents, or Web sites, that you can access using the Internet and your Web browser. The Web comprises the vast majority (but not quite all) of the content available over the Internet.

How does it work?

Web sites reside on computers called Internet servers. When you're connected to the Internet, your Web browser can communicate with Internet servers, asking them to send to your computer a copy of the Web page you'd like to see. The Uniform Resource Locator (URL) you type or the hyperlink you click tells your computer which server to try to contact and which page to ask for.

What is TCP/IP?

The interconnected computers of the Internet are of different types, and they use different operating systems. To communicate with each other over the Internet, they use a common set of rules called Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) or just Internet Protocol (IP). TCP/IP software allows your computer to connect to the Internet, too.

What's on the Internet besides the Web?

Many types of information are accessible over the Internet. Here are some things, in addition to visiting Web sites, that you can do using the Internet:

• Send and receive electronic-mail messages. (See the Internet Guide chapter All About E-Mail.)
• Join in a Usenet newsgroup.
• Transfer documents and programs between your computer and FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, sites.
• Use a "gopher" to locate information on other sites.

Web links to get you started

Whether you're new to the World Wide Web or an experienced surfer, Web sites that review or rate other Web sites and provide hyperlinks to them can be a great resource. For links to many sites in a variety of categories, try visiting these.

• Microsoft® Internet Start Best of the Web (http://home.microsoft.com/exploring/exploring.asp)—categorized lists of useful sites (plus their links). Click a category heading to see a full list of links.
• PC Magazine's The Best 100 Web Sites (http://www.pcmag.com/top100websites/)—a regularly updated, categorized list of sites (plus their links) that the experts think are top notch
• 100hot.com (http://www.100hot.com)—a directory of 100 hot sites (plus their links) in various categories, from celebrities to job hunting to computer hardware to jokes
• toptenlinks.com (http://www.toptenlinks.com)—top 10 lists of sites (plus their links) in categories including family, sports, travel, and government

What are newsgroups?

Usenet newsgroups are Internet discussion groups on just about any topic you can imagine. (There are more than 50,000 newsgroups, and more are added all the time.) Each newsgroup covers a particular topic, often alluded to in its name.

A newsgroup creates a discussion string, or series of related messages. Each message responds to an earlier message or addresses the overall newsgroup topic in some way. You can post your own message in response to the messages that interest you most.

Thousands of topics

Do you suffer from migraines? Check out the newsgroup alt.support.headaches.migraine for support. Are you the owner of hunting dogs? Visit rec.hunting.dogs. Here are some more examples of newsgroups to give you an idea of the variety that's out there:

• sci.physics.fusion
• soc.genealogy.hispanic
• biz.jobs.offered
• rec.arts.animation
• alt.autos.antique

And, of course, there are plenty of newsgroups about computing.

You can find newsgroups that may interest you by searching for them through the Deja News Web siteat http://www.dejanews.com. The Deja News site is a good place to learn more about newsgroups, in general, too.

How to do it

If your e-mail client is also a newsreader, you can use it to subscribe to, read messages from, and post messages to newsgroups. Microsoft® Internet Explorer version 4.0 makes newsgroup access easy, too. On the Go menu, simply select News. Internet Explorer automatically launches Microsoft Outlook™ Express and opens your newsgroups folder so you can get down to business.

Start here

Before you join into a newsgroup discussion:

• Read a newsgroup's FAQ (frequently asked questions) file first to learn more about the group. (Almost all newsgroups have a FAQ.)
• Check whether the newsgroup has a file containing its charter and rules. If it does, read this before you post messages.
• Read a good portion of a discussion string before joining in. Others in the discussion will appreciate that you took the time to get familiar with the conversation first.

What's an FAQ?

FAQ, pronounced "F-A-Q," stands for "frequently asked questions." Many sites on the World Wide Web include an FAQ, which answers common questions about the site, such as what it covers, how to find information on it, and who created it. Think of the Microsoft Personal Computing Internet Guide as an FAQ, of sorts, for the Internet. Typically an FAQ will be in the form of a text document you can download, rather than a full-fledged Web site. When you visit a newsgroup for the first time, look for its FAQ. It will probably answer all of your questions about the newsgroup and can help you get the most out it, as well.

What are Usenet, FTP, and gopher?

Usenet, FTP, and gopher represent ways of accessing information other than Web sites over the Internet.

• Usenet—a collection of several thousand newsgroups on just about any topic. Using a newsreader, you can subscribe to a newsgroup, read the messages other subscribers have posted, and post your own messages in response. Newsgroups provide a way for users to share information about topics that interest them. The Deja News Web site provides an introduction to newsgroups and a way to search them.
• FTP—stands for "File Transfer Protocol," a system of rules and a software program that allow you to log on to another computer and transfer information between it and your computer. Most browsers have some FTP capability built in. You can find many FTP sites using a regular Internet search engine, or use the Archie search engine, which indexes FTP sites.
• Gopher—a simple menu system that you can use to connect to files on the Internet. This easy-to-use system introduced many users to the Internet before the World Wide Web became popular. Using the University of Minnesota gopher, which was the first gopher, you can connect to gophers worldwide. You can search gophers using a program called Veronica.
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Online Banking and Investing

It's one of the wonders of the Internet: the ability to manage your finances-from one simple checking account to hundreds of complex investments-right from your own computer. It's safe, easy, and growing in popularity. Plus, the Internet is home to a rich array of financial information and guidance. Take a look.

• MSN MoneyCentral and MSN Investor
• Microsoft Money 99 Financial Suite

MSN MoneyCentral and MSN Investor

MSN™ MoneyCentral is a site on the World Wide Web designed to give you the hard facts, seasoned advise, and practical tools you need to manage your finances online—even if you're new to financial management or the Internet. It focuses on common money-management issues, from planning for college or retirement to handling debt. You can use MSN MoneyCentral for free*.

What you can do

From the MSN MoneyCentral home page, you can access varied financial information. For instance, you can:

• Learn how to get started if you're new to investing, using Investor Workshop.
• Read today's financial news from MSNBC.
• Search for a real-time quote on a stock that interests you.
• Survey the performance of key indices, such as the Dow Jones industrial average.
• Research potential investments like the experts do with stock and fund research wizards.
• Dig into expert guidance about these topics: retirement and wills, real estate, smart buying, money and banking, taxes, family finance, insurance.
• Visit MSN Investor, a special section of MSN MoneyCentral devoted to researching, making, and tracking investments online. (This is an update version of the Microsoft Investor Web site. Most features of MSN Investor are free*; some require subscription.)
• Check out "Investing Highlights," such as "Your Portfolio," "TopFunds," "Get Started," and more.
• Use Investments Matcher to help you find stocks that may suit your needs.
• View a calendar of upcoming earnings announcements, stock splits, and other investment events.
• Tap into the MSN MoneyCentral Quick Reference, which contains answers to more than 1,800 questions about personal finance.

*Connect charges may apply.

Online banking information

From the MSN MoneyCentral home page, be sure to click Money & Banking, which leads to articles and tools about saving, managing debt, protecting your credit, banking online, and more. The Bank Online section includes practical step-by-step guidance for finding out if your bank is online, comparing fees and services, and selecting personal finance software.

Money 99 Financial Suite

Microsoft® Money 99 Financial Suite personal financial management software provides complete planning and tracking tools, personalized guidance, and a six-month subscription to MSN Investor World Wide Web site premium services. An integrated resource, Money 99 can help you bank online, track your investments, set budgets, and more.

Money 99 Financial Suite includes these features:

• Money 99—All the financial organizing and tracking tools in Money 99 Basic, including account management, bill paying, budgeting, and investment management tools
• Personal Profile—An interview that asks about your financial needs and provides a relevant action plan
• Advisor FYI™—Guidance for making smart financial decisions for your situation
• Lifetime Planner—A tool that creates a complete financial plan to help you plan for major financial events and reach your long-term goals and is integrated with the Debt Reduction and Budget planners
• Decision Center with Money 99 Market Place links—Your connection to hundreds of financial articles, tools, and related Web sites, such as Microsoft Home Advisor™, Microsoft Expedia™, Microsoft Carpoint™, and Insweb
• Investment Search—So you can easily search an up-to-the-minute database of more than 16,000 stocks and mutual funds
• Investment Watch—So you can track stocks and mutual funds you're interested in
• Free* six-month subscription to MSN Investor's premium services—Providing analyst recommendations and earnings estimates, up to 10 years of financial statements and historical charts, electronic mail notifications about your investments, and more
• Tax planning and saving tools-Tax Deduction Finder helps find deductions you missed;

Tax Estimator Worksheet helps you estimate your year-end taxes.

By the way, if you now use Quicken version 4.x, 5.x, or 6.x, or Quicken 98, you can easily switch to Money 99. It will convert and use your Quicken data.

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Internet Security

The Internet may feel like a place where you roam anonymously and privately, especially if you access it from your own home. However, with every foray onto the Internet, your computer and other computers actively exchange information. So just how private and secure are these communications? That depends primarily on the sites you visit and your Web browser's security features.

• Security with Microsoft® Internet Explorer 4.0
• Shopping
• Banking and Investing
• Viruses
• Cookies
• Privacy
• ActiveX®, Java, and Certificates

Security with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0

Microsoft® Internet Explorer version 4.0 allows you to take full advantage of the powerful technology on Web sites you trust, while reducing the risk of harm from sites you don't know much about.

Security zones

You can do this by assigning sites to one of four security zones-local intranet zone, trusted sites zone, Internet zone, or restricted sites zone and determining the level of security you want for each zone. Select from high, medium, or low security, or customize dozens of aspects of the security level of each zone.

More features

The security features of Internet Explorer 4.0 also let you do these things:

• Block Web sites that contain language, nudity, sex, or violence that you consider inappropriate for the users of your computer.
• Use Authenticode™ technology to verify whether software is safe before you download it.
• Enable Java-based applets (mini-applications that can enhance your Web experience) for sites you trust and disable them for other sites.

Shopping

How often do you hand your credit card to a waiter in a restaurant or give out your account number over the telephone when ordering products? Such actions probably pose a greater security risk than charging items online—at least from trusted Web sites.

Certificates

If you have doubts about providing your credit card number or other personal information to a company's Web site, check for the site's certificate. (With Microsoft® Internet Explorer version 4.0, on the File menu, click Properties and then click Certificates.) A Web site certificate is an online document that certifies the site's identity so you know your information is going where you intend it to go.

 

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