3.0  Using Windows

3.4.12.6 Net Meeting

With NetMeeting you can hold digital conversations with family, friends, and business associates around the world without spending a fortune. NetMeeting also makes it possible for you to work with a group of people from within any Windows-based program by drawing on a shared white board, sending text messages, and transferring files. With the correct hardware installed on your computer, you can also have live, face-to-face meetings.

FrontPage Express

FrontPage Express is a Web-page editor that gives you full access to the power of  in a familiar, easy-to-use desktop interface. To start FrontPage Express, click Start, point to Programs, point to Internet Explorer, and then click FrontPage Express. If you do not see FrontPage Express on the menu, it is not installed.

3.4.4 Web Browsers

3.4.4.1 Communicator and Internet Explorer

a.       Internet Explorer

If you're new to the Internet, you may be confused at many of the terms that come with it, such as hyperlink or URL. Here's a brief glossary so you won't be lost reading about the Internet. The Internet is a system connecting millions of computers around the world. Its best-known feature, the World Wide Web, presents rich content, including multimedia clips and even live radio and video. You view this content on Web pages by using a Web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer. Typically the top-level page of a Web site is called the home page, from which other pages branch off. When you start Internet Explorer, the first page you see is also called your home page. To move through the many folders on your hard disk or on a floppy you need to know how to navigate through windows. To start, you need to learn to open a window.

Getting around on the Internet

Each Web page has a specific address, sometimes known as a URL (uniform resource locator). You can type the address to go directly to the page. It indicates a number of things: for example, with http://www.microsoft.com, HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), tells your computer how to communicate with the Internet computer. (Hypertext is a method of writing content for the Internet.) WWW indicates that the site is on the World Wide Web. The .com suffix indicates a commercial site (as .edu is used for educational institutions or .org for other organizations).

The most common way to move around the Web is by clicking text or pictures called links, or hyperlinks, which have addresses coded into them. Your mouse pointer changes to a hand shape when it passes over a link. You can either browse (surf) the Web at random or search for a page of interest to you by using a search service, which can search the Internet for words you specify. Also, portal sites (such as msn.com) contain pre-selected links to popular pages.

Using the Internet safely

You may find pictures, sounds, or programs to download (install) to your computer from the Internet. Security settings in Internet Explorer help you download safely, to avoid unreliable software or viruses, and to make online shopping or e-mail communication more secure. Also, because some information on the Web may not be suitable for everyone, with Internet Explorer you can control what sites are viewable from your computer.

 


 Communicating on the Internet

In addition to the well known e-mail, you can use chat rooms and newsgroups to connect with people around the world. In a chat room you conduct a real-time typed conversation with one or more people, and in newsgroups (sometimes aptly called bulletin boards) you read messages that have been posted, or post your own. You can even make Internet phone calls using your computer!

Basics of Internet Explorer

You can surf the Web the way you browse your computer, using Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer. Here is a brief description of the tools you are provided with to surf the web: -

1.      

Back button: Click this to return to the previous page.

Forward button: Click this to go to the next page in a series of pages you have already visited.

 

 

 

2.      

Refresh button: Click this to update the current page if all the latest or expected information did not appear. This is helpful if you see old information on a page that is updated frequently or if graphics appear incorrectly

 

 

 

3.      

Home button: Click this to go to your home page (the first page you see when you open your browser).

 

 

 

4.      

Search button: Click this to open the Search bar, where you can choose a search service and search the Internet.

 

 

 

5.      

Favorites button: Click this to open the Favorites bar, where you can store links (shortcuts) to your most frequently visited Web sites or documents.

 

 

 

6.      

Address bar: Type Web-page addresses (URLs) here, or paths to documents on your computer.

 

 

 

7.      

Status bar: Watch the left side of the bar for Web-page loading progress. The right side tells you which security zone the current page is in, and shows a lock icon if you are on a secure site.

Finding Information

The Search Assistant helps you narrow your search. Choose the type of information you want to find (such as a Web page, a business, or a person's e-mail address), and the Search Assistant chooses a search service that specializes in that area.

 

When you type in your search request, a list of results appears in the Search bar. As you click items in this list, the actual pages appear in the right side of the browser window. Click the x at the top of the Search bar to close it.

 

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