Monday, November 20, 2000		Article

Explore the Net with Internet Explorer
by Vishal Verma

A Web browser is software to surf the Internet. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) enables a surfer to gain access to vast storehouse of information on the Net globally. Besides browsing, the IE can perform other activities, viz. organise a videoconference, browse through the folders, e-mail, post messages on newsgroups, publish a Web page and use a Web page as a background in a folder. The IE can even download your favourite Web sites while you’re doing something else.

Most PCs use MS Windows as operating system and the IE is automatically loaded when the operating system is installed. The IE comes with tools like Outlook Express, Microsoft NetMeeting, Front Page Express and Task scheduler. Outlook Express lets the user exchange e-mails and read, write and post messages to the Internet newsgroups. The user can preview messages without opening them and switch between the mail folders, news servers, and newsgroups. One can also download messages for offline reading. With NetMeeting conferences over the Web or a local area network are possible. Place calls to anyone over a network or with a modem (even use video!) over the Internet, and work in a shared application with persons at other locations. With Front Page Express you can create and publish Web pages. These pages can best be viewed by the IE and published through Web publishing wizard.

The IE allows browsing from anywhere on a computer. It can be from Windows Explorer, My Computer, or even Control Panel and Desktops. Surfing can be done with ease using the Explorer bar. You can even display Web content directly on the desktop and have the content updated automatically.

The IE supports a technique called subscribing to view the Web content that checks your favourite Web sites for new content and automatically downloads to the user’s hard disk. The schedule for updating can be daily, weekly, or monthly.

Another form of subscribing is "channels". A channel is a Web site designed to deliver content from the Internet to the computer. You don’t have to subscribe to view the content. With channels the content provider can suggest a schedule for subscription, or customise it on own. Use the Channel Guide on the desktop or in the browser to view a list of channels available through the Microsoft Web site. The list is updated frequently with the latest offerings from new and existing content providers.

The Internet provides us with unprecedented access to a wide variety of information. Some information, however, may not be suited for every viewer.

The Content Advisor provides a check on the types of content that a computer can access using a password protection. It also allows a rating setting depending upon what you think is the appropriate content in each of four areas — language, nudity, sex, and violence.

Security is an important issue while browsing the Net. The Internet works by sending information from one computer to another until the information reaches its destination. When information is sent from point A to point B, the information is accessible to all computers in between that may include details like the credit-card number and personal information. If hackers come to know about it, things may get serious.

The secure sites are equipped to prevent unauthorised persons from seeing the data sent to or from those sites. Because the IE supports security protocols used by the secure sites, you can send information assuredly. When you view a page from a secure site, the IE displays a lock icon on the status bar. The Internet Explorer can also notify when you are about to do something that might pose a security risk.

The IE manages the cookies well and hence the site can be loaded with ease when it is loaded again. This facility is particularly suitable for the surfers who do not reside near the Internet node established by the ISPs.

As in Netscape communicator, the IE also possesses an Address bar to display the address for a Web page. You don’t even need to type the entire Web site address. Just start typing, and the AutoComplete feature will assist you to get a match, based on the sites you visited previously.

With the Address bar, you can also search sites just by typing find, go, or ? followed by a word that you’re searching for. If you type a partial address and then press Ctrl+ Enter, the IE attempts to go to the matching For example, if you type Login Tribune and then press Ctrl + Enter, Internet Explorer attempts to open a Web site named http://www.logintribune.com/. It also allows you to run a program from the Address bar. You have to type the program name in the address bar, and then press Enter. If you know the complete path and file name, you can type it

If the program is a component of Windows, then only typing its name will run the program, e.g., Mspaint, Notepad, Control Panel, or Printers.

Another important feature is the Explorer bar, which is a way to browse through a list of links, such as the History or channels, while displaying the pages opened by those links. You can display Favourites list, History, channels, or Search by clicking the toolbar. The search option in the Explorer bar enables the user to move around the Web faster and easier. History button helps the surfer to remember the site previously visited. A site can also be revisited from here by clicking the link.

Since the history option keeps track of the record of the site visited, the privacy of the surfer is at risk. So it is always advisable that the folder should be previewed on a regular basis. You can adjust the number of days that pages are saved in the History list.

To view a favourite Web site, the IE provides Favorites button on the toolbar. In order to keep the most-used Web pages handy, the user may create a button on the Links toolbar just by dragging a link to it from the Address bar or a Web page.

Searching the Web with ease is another facility the IE provides the surfer. Information on the Web can be had in a variety of ways. When you click the search button on the toolbar, the Explorer bar appears at the left of the window. It provides access to a number of search services that offer different kinds of searching capabilities. To find information fast, use the Autosearch feature by typing go, find, or ? followed by a word or phrase, right in the Address bar. The IE immediately starts a search using its predetermined search service.

When you not sure of the Web address (URL), Internet Explorer can automatically use a search service to search for Web addresses containing the name or word you type. For example, you if you type tribune, the IE would try to go to a Web site named www.tribuneindia.com. But if the IE cannot find a site with that name, it can search for sites that contain that name in the Web address, and either suggest possible matches or automatically go to the first match.

Here are few tips for our readers to view all Web pages faster. Customising the options related to multimedia, like playing animation, video or sound reduces the precious online time. This can be done by clicking Internet Options on the View menu and then clicking Advanced tab, followed by clearing check boxes. To display previously viewed pages faster, create more space to store pages temporarily, by moving the slider to the right in the General tab of Internet Options. If the colours are not kept at their best, a lot of display memory can be saved.

If you don’t always have an access to the Web when you want to browse Web pages then "offline browsing" may be an important option. With offline browsing, you can view Web pages without being connected to the Internet. You may also do the requisite groundwork before you get online, like, write the contents of the mails. If you want to send e-mail, read news, or place the Internet calls, you can start the programs from within the IE.

All features in the IE are accessible by using the keyboard for fast access. By pressing Tab and Shift +Tab you can move forward and backward between screen elements such as, links that are text or images, the Address bar, frames etc. You can use shortcut keys to choose commands and view documents.