Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows XP in 24 Hours

By Greg Perry

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Author
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Introduction
  • Part I: Wake Up with Windows XP
  • Hour 1. Taking a Bird's-Eye Look at Windows XP
  • Hour 2. Getting Started with Windows XP
  • Hour 3. Managing the Windows XP Interface
  • Part II: Morning Windows Desktop Exploration
  • Hour 4. Working with the My Computer Window
  • Hour 5. Navigating Files with Windows Explorer
  • Hour 6. Calling for Help
  • Hour 7. Improving Your Windows Desktop Experience
  • Part III: Early Afternoon Windows Exploration
  • Hour 8. Installing Programs with Windows XP
  • Hour 9. Finding Files, Folders, and Friends
  • Hour 10. Using the Desktop Accessories
  • Part IV: Late Afternoon Internet Integration
  • Hour 11. Surfing the Web with Internet Explorer
  • Hour 12. Tying Windows into the Web
    • To Do: Listening to Internet Audio
    • Customizing the Explorer Bar
    • Instant Messaging with MSN Messenger
    • Using Messenger
    • MSN Messenger Is Flexible
    • Introducing the Internet Connection Firewall
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • Hour 13. Networking with Windows XP
  • Hour 14. Managing E-mail and Newsgroups with Outlook Express
  • Part V: An Evening with Advanced Windows
  • Hour 15. Exploring Your Hardware Interface
  • Hour 16. Understanding Printing and Fonts
  • Hour 17. Using Windows on the Road
  • Hour 18. Giving Windows XP a Tune-Up
  • Hour 19. Managing Your Hard Drives
  • Hour 20. Tinkering with the Advanced System Tools
  • Part VI: Having Fun at Nighttime
  • Hour 21. Using Media Player
  • Hour 22. Picturing Windows XP Graphics
  • Hour 23. Making Movies with Windows XP
  • Hour 24. Advanced Windows XP Tips
  • Part VII: Appendixes
  • Appendix A. Differences Between the Windows Home and Professional Edition
  • Appendix B. Glossary
  • Appendix C. Answers to Quizzes

Listening to Audio Content

Data is no longer limited to numbers and characters. Data consists of numbers and characters, but also audio, video, and graphics. Windows XP and the Internet both work well with all these types of data. As Internet access speed called bandwidth increases, more audio and video content will be delivered over the Internet to the user's browser.

You could listen to audio content from the Internet before Windows XP came along. With Windows XP, however, Internet Explorer's latest version now supports the playback and control of Internet audio from within Internet Explorer. Before Internet Explorer 6, the version supplied with Windows XP, if you clicked a link that produced audio, a separate program window would open and you would control the playback, pause, and volume level of that Internet content from the separate program window. Therefore, to hear audio, you'd have to control two windows: the browser window and the audio playback software.

The audio controls appear at the bottom of your browser's Personal bar as the following To Do item shows.

To Do: Listening to Internet Audio

1. Select Internet Explorer.
2. Go to http://www.WindowsMedia.com, and you'll see several entertainment items and pictures that describe content currently available. The WindowsMedia page contains both audio and video. For this task, you need to be sure you select an audio link.
3. Click the Music link at the left of the page. Several items appear.
4. Locate any item on the page with a speaker icon as opposed to a film icon that would represent a video clip. If you have a bandwidth choice, such as 28k, 56k, or 300k, click on the speed that most closely matches your Internet connection. Most modem users will click 56k, whereas most DSL and cable modem users will click 300k. The audio clip will begin after a brief pause, after opening the Media box at the left of the Internet Explorer window, as shown in Figure 12.1. Another window might open to display information about the artist. You can close the extra window by clicking its Close button.
   

   Figure 12.1 Internet Explorer now allows you to control audio content directly from within the browser.

5. Press the Pause and Play buttons to stop and start the playback.
6. Adjust the volume of the sound.

7. Close the media player window clicking the toolbar's Media button. The audio continues to play. When you click the media button again, the media player reappears and the media controls also reappear.
8. Click the Stop button to stop the playback.

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