Simplifying Web Tasks

Internet Explorer 5 can simplify the daily tasks that you perform on the Web. For example, the browser simplifies searching by helping you classify the type of information you are looking for and redirecting searches to the search engines that you specify.

The following sections describe new and enhanced features of Internet Explorer 5 that make it simple to find, organize, and use information on the Web.

Go Button

After you type a URL in the Address bar or Run command (on the Start menu), you can view the Web site by pressing ENTER or by clicking the new Go button. This button appears on the right side of the Address bar and Run command box.

If you prefer to press ENTER,you can remove the Go button by right-clicking it and then clearing this selection.

Home Page Object Model

You no longer need to read through extensive instructions on how to change a home page. Content providers have a new home-page object model, which enables them to programmatically reset the home page - with the user's confirmation - by using basic scripting. You can change your home page just by clicking a designated link on a content provider's Web page.

Search Assistant

The new Search Assistant helps you to quickly and easily obtain more accurate results from Internet searches. When you click the Search button on the Internet Explorer toolbar, the Search Assistant opens in the left side of the window. As in earlier versions of Internet Explorer, the Search Assistant provides you with the ability to search the Web using the default search engine that you specify. In addition, you can designate the type of information you are looking for, such as Web pages or mailing and e-mail addresses. Using a search engine that has been optimized to locate a specific type of information makes it easier for you to conduct a targeted search.

You have complete control of the categories that the Search Assistant displays, as well as the search engines that are used for each category. After conducting a search, you can select a different search engine and perform the same search again without retyping the search words.

The following illustration shows the Search Assistant.

Search Highlighting

When you perform a search, the search words are highlighted automatically on any Web pages found by the search engines, so you can easily find the words on the page. For example, if you search for "Microsoft Internet technologies," this phrase is highlighted in the search results. You no longer need to use a separate search function to locate the search words on a Web page.

Helpful HTTP Error Messages

When you try to open a Web page (by clicking a link to the page or by typing a URL in the Address bar or the Run command box) and the page does not exist, Internet Explorer 5 replaces the standard HTTP 404 error message with a more helpful error message. The new error message provides helpful suggestions for locating the desired Web page. For example, if you type the following address - https://example.microsoft.com/link/link2.htm - in the Address bar but link2.htm does not exist, Internet Explorer provides simple instructions on how to get to the site, such as suggesting that you click the Refresh button on the browser toolbar. Internet Explorer also provides a link to https://example.microsoft.com/link.

You can still view the HTTP 404 error message text, which now appears at the bottom of the error message window.

Hidden Script Errors

By default, Internet Explorer does not display a dialog box that describes scripting errors. Instead, an icon in the status bar indicates when a scripting error has occurred. Because scripting errors can be resolved only by the author of the script, they are not meaningful to most users. Content developers, though, can easily enable the ability to view all scripting error messages. For more information about viewing scripting error messages, see "Developer Mode" later in this chapter.

Explorer Bar Enhancements

Explorer bars have been enhanced in the following ways:

• Explorer bars now use a white background and familiar scrollbars, which are consistent with other desktop applications.

• Explorer bars for Favorites, History, and Search are more consistent, making it easy to switch from one Explorer bar to another.

• Command buttons are now available within each Explorer bar, giving you instant access to popular commands. For example, the Explorer bar for Favorites now includes command buttons for adding and organizing Favorites.

• Explorer bars persist from one browser session to the next. When you have an Explorer bar open and then quit and restart the browser, the same Explorer bar is still open.

Add Favorites

The Add Favorite dialog box in Internet Explorer 5 has been simplified so that you can more quickly name a favorite Web site and add it to the appropriate folder in the Favorites list. A Make available offline check box makes it easier for you to designate content that you want to download and then read offline. You can then click the Customize button and specify exactly when the content should be updated and whether you want to be notified by e-mail.

When you are working offline, Internet Explorer automatically dims the options that are unavailable in Favorites and History.

The following illustration shows the Add Favorite dialog box.

Smart Frameset Favorites

When you add a Web page that includes frames to the Favorites list, Internet Explorer now saves the frameset arrangement rather than saving the outermost frame by default (which is often not the appropriate page). Even pages with nested frames, which allow the main navigation list of contents to appear on all of a Web site's pages, link to the correct URL from the Favorites list.

Organize Favorites

Internet Explorer 5 includes a new Organize Favorites dialog box that helps you organize your Favorites list and provides additional information about the Web sites on the list. You can quickly and easily create new folders, move favorite Web sites from one folder to another, rename them, or delete them.

Also, when you select one of the links in the dialog box, the browser automatically displays the following information:

• The Web site's URL

• The last time you visited the Web site

• The number of times you have visited the Web site

• The Web site's availability offline

The following illustration shows the Organize Favorites dialog box.

Import and Export Favorites and Cookies

Internet Explorer 5 includes a new Import/Export wizard (accessible from the File menu) that enables you to import and export Favorites and cookies to and from Netscape Navigator. With this capability, you can easily synchronize settings between browsers. You can also import and export Favorites and cookies to and from a file at any location you designate.

Note The Import/Export wizard is not intended for exporting Favorites between Internet Explorer 4.0 and Internet Explorer 5.

History Views

You can use the new History views to locate Web sites that you visited recently. You can view History based on the following criteria:

• By date

• By Web site

• By the most visited Web site

• By the order of Web sites visited today

Within each History view, Web sites are sorted by domain name rather than by the first portion of the URL, so you can easily identify the appropriate site. For example, the Internet Explorer Web site would be sorted under Microsoft rather than under www.microsoft.com. You also have the option of searching a History file for specific words or searching for a URL directly from the History bar.

Windows Synchronization Manager

Internet Explorer 5 introduces a new service named Windows Synchronization Manager, which provides a single location from which you can synchronize information for offline use. You can use Windows Synchronization Manager to synchronize data for any application that supports this functionality. For example, you can synchronize all relevant data, including Web pages, documents, and other publications on the Internet and intranet. You can also specify when information is synchronized and the maximum amount of hard-disk space that can be used.

Windows Synchronization Manager can manage sessions on a connection-by-connection basis. For example, if you are connected over a slower dial-up connection, you might only want to synchronize your e-mail, then wait for a higher speed connection to synchronize Web pages.

The following illustration shows the Windows Synchronization Manager.

Saving Complete Web Pages

Using the Save as command, you can now save entire Web pages (including images) to view offline or to share with other users through e-mail. You can save the data as a Web archive in MIME HTML (MHTML) format or as a complete Web page in HTML format.

You can store complete Web pages without relying on the browser cache. For example, you might want to save some how-to information to your hard disk without worrying about whether the Web page will be updated tomorrow. Internet Explorer does not download a new version of the saved Web page when the Web site is updated.

FTP Folders

Many content providers provide FTP sites where users can download and upload files and information, avoiding the congestion of traditional Web sites. With Internet Explorer 5, the way you browse FTP folders is modeled after standard Web and file browsing. This capability provides you with a consistent view of both local and Internet data. If you have the Windows Desktop Update installed, additional information about the FTP folders, such as the folder size and the date the folder was last modified, is displayed.

Web Folders

Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) is a set of standards-based extensions to HTTP that enable you to share and work with server-based HTTP Web documents. This capability is available regardless of the authoring tools, platforms, or types of Web servers or document management systems the documents are stored in.

Internet Explorer 5 supports WebDAV, enabling you to navigate to a WebDAV-compliant server, such as Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), and view the server as if it were a part of the local file system. You can also drag and drop files and perform other tasks, such as moving, copying, and saving files between local and remote WebDAV-compliant servers.

Per-Connection Proxy Settings

With Internet Explorer 5, you can set up multiple types of connections, each with different proxy servers, and switch automatically from one connection to another. If you need multiple Internet and intranet connections (for example, a connection to your office LAN and a connection to your personal Internet account through an Internet service provider), you no longer have to change your proxy-server settings manually each time a different connection is made. When you choose a different connection, Internet Explorer automatically uses the appropriate proxy-server settings.

Integration with Productivity Applications

Internet Explorer 5 enables you to specify default applications for e-mail, calendar, contacts, Internet dial-up, newsgroups, and HTML editing to use with the browser. When you try to perform a task that requires one of these applications, Internet Explorer automatically starts the selected application. For example, if you click the Edit button in Internet Explorer, the browser opens the Web page in the selected HTML editing application.

The Internet Explorer user interface and commands are also more consistent with Microsoft productivity applications, such as Microsoft Office 2000.

The following user-interface enhancements provide additional consistency between the browser and productivity applications:

• Tools menu - More advanced commands, such as Internet Options , are now available on the new Tools menu, just as they are in Office applications.

• Toolbar appearance - You can select smaller toolbar buttons and icons for the browser, similar to those used in Office applications.

• Toolbar commands - You can add popular Office commands, such as Print , Cut , Copy , and Paste , to the browser toolbar.

Integration with Web-Based Mail

You can now select Web-based e-mail providers as your default e-mail program and experience the same integrated browsing and communication features available in traditional e-mail programs, such as Microsoft Outlook and Qualcomm Eudora. When you want to compose a new message, read e-mail, send a link, or send a Web page from within Internet Explorer, the browser automatically uses the Web-based e-mail provider that you select.

Internet Explorer includes MSN™ Hotmail™ as an option for the default e-mail program, and other Web-based e-mail providers can provide the same integrated functionality.

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