Windows Journal Windows Journal is a simple note-taking application that debuted in the first version of Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. Shown in Figure 16-17, Windows Journal works only with handwriting and cannot be used to take notes with the keyboard. It remains an excellent way to get accustomed to Tablet PC usage, if you’re a beginner. Figure 16-17: Windows Journal is designed for anyone who wants to take handwritten notes. Windows Journal starts off with a college-ruled notebook look and feel, but you can change the style using Journal’s stationary and template features. Stationary is a combination of paper size (like 8.5" by 11"), line style (college ruled, wide ruled, and so on), and other characteristics. Or, you can choose from preset templates like Blank, Dotted Line, Memo, and others. To define the default look and feel of your notes, visit Tools ➪Options➪Note Format. Curiously, you can draw in Windows Journal using the mouse if you want, although the results are rarely inspiring. Microsoft sells an excellent note-taking application called OneNote, which you can also purchase as part of the inexpensive Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition 2007. OneNote supports both pen- and keyboard-based note taking, as well as audio and video recording that can be synchronized with notes. It is much more sophisticated than Windows Journal and has been updated far more frequently. tip note ࡗ 452 Part V: Mobility ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ 25_577048 ch16.qxp 11/29/06 8:20 PM Page 452 Sticky Notes Shown in Figure 16-18, Sticky Notes is a new Windows Vista accessory that any user can use to create short handwritten or voice notes. The application resembles a small stack of yellow notes, just like the paper-based sticky notes they’re meant to represent. Sticky Notes is designed for a Tablet PC, and indeed, you’d need such a device for the hand- written note portion. But anyone can use Sticky Notes to create voice notes. Figure 16-18: Sticky Notes is meant to emulate paper-based sticky notes. Summary As with Windows Media Center, Microsoft has taken the Tablet PC functionality it devel- oped during the lifetime of Windows XP, enhanced it, and made it available to far more users in Windows Vista. Whether you have a traditional Tablet PC, a convertible laptop, a PC with a touch-based screen, or even a normal desktop or notebook computer, there’s a Tablet PC feature in Windows Vista that’s sure to delight. Hopefully, as this technology goes more mainstream, more people will become comfortable with an alternative form of computing that could yet change the world. ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ Chapter 16: New Tablet PC Features ࡗ 453 25_577048 ch16.qxp 11/29/06 8:20 PM Page 453 25_577048 ch16.qxp 11/29/06 8:20 PM Page 454 Part VI Internet and Networking Chapter 17: Browsing the Web with Internet Explorer 7 Chapter 18: Windows Mail and Contacts Chapter 19: Using and Understanding Windows Live Services 26_577048 pt06.qxp 11/29/06 8:21 PM Page 455 26_577048 pt06.qxp 11/29/06 8:21 PM Page 456 Browsing the Web with Internet Explorer 7 ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗࡗ ࡗ ࡗ In This Chapter Figuring out the new Internet Explorer 7 user interface Working with tabbed browsing and Quick Tabs Searching the Internet Optimizing the Internet Explorer 7 display Printing information you find on the Web Become more efficient with Internet Explorer 7’s keyboard shortcuts Discovering and mastering the new RSS features ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ Chapter 17 27_577048 ch17.qxp 11/29/06 8:21 PM Page 457 ࡗ 458 Part VI: Internet and Networking ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ W indows Vista features a brand-new and much-improved version of the Internet Explorer Web browser called Internet Explorer 7. As with previous Windows ver- sions, Internet Explorer 7 is integrated into Windows Vista, although Microsoft offers a free download of Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP as well. But here’s one reason to upgrade to Windows Vista: The version of Internet Explorer 7 found in Microsoft’s latest operating sys- tem is actually much more secure than the XP version and even offers a few unique features. What Happened To say that Internet Explorer has an ignoble history is perhaps an understatement. Originally conceived as a minor add-on for Windows 95 and one that did not ship in the initial version of that Windows release, Internet Explorer later became the linchpin of Microsoft’s strategy for competing in the dot-com era and, not surprisingly, the subject of antitrust legal battles that continue to this day. Inexplicably, Microsoft melded Internet Explorer into Windows beginning with Windows 98, and designed the system in such a way that Internet Explorer could not be easily removed from the operating system (OS). This intermingling of web browser and OS code led to years and years of security problems, some of which eventually forced Microsoft to delay the release of Windows Vista simply so that it could ensure that its Internet Explorer– riddled operating systems were shored up with additional defenses. Worst of all, after Microsoft won the browser wars in the early 2000s, displacing competitors such as Netscape and Opera, the company lost interest in Internet Explorer and stopped active development of the browser. It even briefly considered removing Internet Explorer from Windows Vista altogether, relegating its web browsing duties to the Explorer shell, which as you probably know is simply based on Internet Explorer code anyway. Then a wonderful thing happened. A scrappy group of upstarts from The Mozilla Foundation (since renamed to The Mozilla Corporation) took the vestiges of the software code from Netscape’s browser and reconstituted it as a small, lean, and powerful browser named Firefox. Roaring out of the gates in 2004, Firefox quickly began seizing market share from Internet Explorer, thanks to its unique new features and functionality. And suddenly, Microsoft was interested in updating Internet Explorer once again. It’s amazing what a little competition can do. Starting with the Service Pack 2 (SP2) version of Windows XP, Microsoft re-established its Internet Explorer team and began working actively on new features. Although the ver- sion of Internet Explorer 6 that appeared in Windows XP SP2 was focused largely on security features, a future version, Internet Explorer 7, would include a huge number of functional improvements, aimed at closing the gap with Firefox and giving Microsoft’s customers reasons not to switch. For the first time in several years, Internet Explorer is a compelling web browser again, and it’s likely that most Windows Vista users will want to use this product to browse the Web and access other web-based content. Truth be told, we both prefer and recommend Mozilla Firefox over Internet Explorer, although we admit that the latest Internet Explorer version does indeed include a number of new and interesting features. You can find out more about Firefox from the Mozilla Web site ( www.mozilla.com/). Secret 27_577048 ch17.qxp 11/29/06 8:21 PM Page 458 ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ Chapter 17: Browsing the Web with Internet Explorer 7 ࡗ 459 Basic Internet Explorer Usage Although it’s unlikely that Windows Secrets readers are unaware of basic Internet Explorer features, many of you may have moved along to Mozilla Firefox or other browsers over the past few years. If that’s the case, this section will serve as a nice refresher. Starting Internet Explorer Click the Internet Explorer icon in your Start Menu to start Internet Explorer. You can also start the Internet Explorer by clicking the Internet Explorer icon in the Quick Start toolbar. In previous version of Windows, you could type a web address (a URL) in the Address bar of any Explorer window and press Enter to change the Explorer win- dow into an instance of Internet Explorer. This no longer works in Windows Vista: Now, when you type a web address into an Explorer address bar and tap Enter, a new Internet Explorer window opens. Secret You can display the Internet Explorer icon on your desktop, although the process has changed. To do so, right-click an empty area of the desktop and choose Personalize. Then, in the Personalization window, select the Change Desktop Icons link on the left side of the window. In the Desktop Icon Settings window that appears, check Internet Explorer and click OK. Secret New Link, New Window If you want to open a new window when you jump to a new site, hold down the Shift key when you click the link. (If you prefer, you can right-click the link and then click Open In New Window to do the same thing without using the keyboard.) You’ll then be able to see both the target site and the source page in different Internet Explorer windows. You can also choose to use Internet Explorer’s new tabbed browsing feature instead. We describe this feature later in the chapter. Managing Downloads from the Internet Like previous versions of Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 7 does not provide a down- load manager. Instead, it provides only basic functions for downloading files from Internet servers. Each time you click a link to download a file with Internet Explorer, you get a new download dialog. 27_577048 ch17.qxp 11/29/06 8:21 PM Page 459 Edit on the Internet Explorer Toolbar Unlike previous Internet Explorer versions, Internet Explorer 7 doesn’t include an Edit button on its command bar by default. If you don’t have the Edit button and wish you did, here’s how to get it: 1. Click the Tools button in the Internet Explorer toolbar. 2. Scroll down to Toolbars and then select Customize. 3. In the Customize Toolbar dialog box, select Edit from the Available Toolbar Buttons field and then click the Add button. 4. Click Close. The Complete AutoComplete Internet Explorer has a feature called AutoComplete that helps you complete your entry in the address bar as soon as you type in the first few letters. For example, type www.appl, pause for a few seconds, and you’ll get a drop-down list of sites you have previously visited that start with www.appl, including www.apple.com/. Even if there is a long list of URLs that start with the same letters that you’ve typed, you can easily use your mouse or arrow keys to scroll to and highlight an entry in the list, and then press Enter or Tab to jump to the site. If you press Alt+down arrow or F4 when the address bar is active, Internet Explorer dis- plays a drop-down list of complete addresses you’ve recently typed in the address bar. This is a totally different list than the AutoComplete drop-down list; it is the same list that appears when you click the down arrow at the right end of the address bar. To enable or disable AutoComplete, choose Tools ➪Internet Options, click the Content tab, and click the Settings button in the AutoComplete section. In the AutoComplete Settings dialog box, you can choose whether to use AutoComplete for Web addresses, forms, or user names and passwords. You can save time when typing Web addresses by making Internet Explorer automati- cally preface your entry with www. and end it with the suffix .com. Just type the domain name in the address bar and then press Ctrl+Enter. For example, type windowssecrets, press Ctrl+Enter, and you get www.WindowsSecrets.com. This is different from actually searching on the Internet for the address; see the “Autosearch for a Web Address” section later in this chapter for more on that. Finding Web Sites Do you want to find a specific web site, or text from a specific web page? In an Internet Explorer window, click the address bar, type find, search, or ?, type a space, and then type the name of the company or organization whose site you want to find. If the name has a space in it, forget typing the find, search, or ?, and just put double quote marks around the name. You can also just type in any word, and the search function will be started. This will automatically start a search for the company, word in a Web page, or organiza- tion on Live.com. We discuss changing your search options later in this chapter. tip ࡗ 460 Part VI: Internet and Networking ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ 27_577048 ch17.qxp 11/29/06 8:21 PM Page 460 Autosearch for a Web Address Internet Explorer will automatically search on the Internet for a Web address if you ask it to. Type a fragment of an address in the Address bar, press Enter, and Internet Explorer will treat the fragment as a search term. After a minute or two, you’ll see a list of URLs containing the text you typed. You can choose to turn this feature off or change how it functions by taking these steps: 1. Click Tools➪Internet Options. 2. Click the Advanced tab and scroll down to Search From The Address Bar. 3. Select the option that you prefer — Do Not Search From The Address Bar or Just Display The Results In The Main Window — and then click OK. It isn’t the default, so you might miss it. Internet Explorer will not put in placeholder bor- ders for images yet to be downloaded. If you want this feature turned on so that the text can wrap around the images as yet unseen, you can turn it on in your Internet Options dialog box. Choose Tools ➪Internet Options, click the Advanced tab, and scroll down to Multimedia. Mark the Show Image Download Placeholders check box. Click OK. Copy and Paste Links Wherever there’s a hot link, there’s a way to cut and paste it. If you receive an e-mail mes- sage in Windows Mail that contains a link, you can of course just click it to invoke an Internet Explorer window (if it’s a link to a web site or an FTP address). You can right-click a link and click Copy Shortcut. Then paste this URL into the address bar, into a text file, onto the Desktop — whatever you like. You can also click Add To Favorites instead of Copy Shortcut. Right-click a web page name in your History Explorer bar, and you can click Copy or Add To Favorites. You can do the same with a web page name in search results displayed in the Search Explorer bar. Toggle Internet Explorer between Full-Screen Mode and Restore Open up Internet Explorer and press the F11 key. If you weren’t before, you are now in full-screen mode. If you were maximized before, pressing F11 again will get you back there. Favorites and Offline Web Pages A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is a unique identifier for a web page or other resource on the Internet. Windows maintains a list of the URLs for your favorite sites. Your favorites are actually shortcuts stored in the Favorites folder. You can store whatever you like in the Favorites subfolders, but we suggest limiting what you put in these folders to shortcuts (either to URLs or to other folders or documents). You can put copies of URL shortcuts on your Desktop and start your Internet Explorer by click- ing a shortcut’s icon. tip ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ Chapter 17: Browsing the Web with Internet Explorer 7 ࡗ 461 27_577048 ch17.qxp 11/29/06 8:21 PM Page 461 [...]... order That last bit brings up an interesting issue How do you navigate between tabs? You may recall that you can navigate between open windows in Windows using the Alt+Tab key combination (or, starting in Windows Vista, the new 3D view, which is toggled by using the Windows Key+Tab key combination) In Internet Explorer 7, you can select an individual tab by clicking its tab button But you can also use... right side of the command bar now For example, Windows Live Messenger installs a Messenger button, and Microsoft Office (2003 and newer) installs a Research button (and, if you’ve installed OneNote, a Send to OneNote button) You might see other similar buttons, depending on which software you’ve installed Likewise, if you upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista, any buttons that were added to Internet... busy advancing the state of the art in web search in other products since Internet Explorer 6, including a variety of MSN and Windows Live toolbars, its MSN Search and Windows Live Search services, and its index-based desktop search technologies, which are included in Windows Vista In Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft has finally added integrated web search functionality to its browser It’s pretty obvious,... your default web page editor application Cut Cuts the currently selected text from the address bar and places it in the Windows Clipboard Copy Copies the currently selected text from the address bar or web page and places it in the Windows Clipboard Paste Pastes the contents of the Windows Clipboard at the cursor position Full Screen tip What It Does Toggles the Internet Explorer 7.0 Full Screen mode... History, and it’s a nifty addition Shown in Figure 17- 18, Delete Browsing History enables you to delete temporary Internet files, cookies, browser history, saved form data, or saved passwords individually or all at the same time using the Delete All button It’s a one-stop shop for covering your tracks ࡗ 484 Part VI: Internet and Networking ࡗࡗࡗ Figure 17- 18: Delete Browsing History is one of the best new... changed the way many people consume web-based information In keeping with this sea change, Internet Explorer 7 supports RSS, letting Windows Vista users access web-based content in both traditional and modern ways ࡗࡗࡗ Chapter 17: Browsing the Web with Internet Explorer 7 ࡗ 485 So what is RSS? Basically, it’s a data format, based on XML, designed for distributing news and other web-based content via the... special database that is based on the RSS platform technologies built into Windows Vista You access your subscribed feeds through the Favorites Center You may recall from our discussion earlier in this chapter that Feeds, like Favorites and History lists, are stored in ࡗࡗࡗ Chapter 17: Browsing the Web with Internet Explorer 7 ࡗ 487 this browser memory If you open the Favorites Center, you’ll see that... a much wider RSS platform that is available to any application running in Windows Vista This means that third-party applications can access the RSS feeds you’ve subscribed to in Internet Explorer and provide you with even more advanced functionality To see an example of what’s possible, check out the RSS Feeds gadget for the Windows Sidebar We examine that feature in Chapter 6 Internet Explorer 7 Keyboard... Internet Explorer 7 Browsing in Full-Screen Mode ࡗ 479 Like its predecessors, Internet Explorer 7 supports a full-screen browsing mode in which Internet Explorer covers the entire display, including the Windows Vista task bar To enable full-screen mode, tap F11 or choose Full Screen from the Tools menu By default, full-screen mode even hides the Internet Explorer toolbars, so you can literally use the entire... Internet Explorer 7, printing is actually a positive experience It’s been thoroughly overhauled ࡗ 480 Part VI: Internet and Networking ࡗࡗࡗ You’ll access most printing features directly through the Print button, which is found in the Internet Explorer command bar If you just click the Print button, a standard Windows Print dialog box will appear, just as it would in any other application From here, you . Features ࡗ 453 25_5770 48 ch16.qxp 11/29/06 8: 20 PM Page 453 25_5770 48 ch16.qxp 11/29/06 8: 20 PM Page 454 Part VI Internet and Networking Chapter 17: Browsing the Web with Internet Explorer 7 Chapter 18: Windows. frequently. tip note ࡗ 452 Part V: Mobility ࡗ ࡗ ࡗ 25_5770 48 ch16.qxp 11/29/06 8: 20 PM Page 452 Sticky Notes Shown in Figure 16- 18, Sticky Notes is a new Windows Vista accessory that any user can use to create. and Contacts Chapter 19: Using and Understanding Windows Live Services 26_5770 48 pt06.qxp 11/29/06 8: 21 PM Page 455 26_5770 48 pt06.qxp 11/29/06 8: 21 PM Page 456 Browsing the Web with Internet