As shown already, Windows 98 is heavily integrated with the World Wide Web. Not only can you treat areas on your own computer as if they were Web sites, you can even integrate Web material onto your desktop and have it automatically download. These two main topics will be covered on this page. (NOTE: some images are too large to fit on the page. Simply click the thumbnail image to see the full image.)
Many Web sites update their material when necessary or on some sort of schedule. Windows 98 allows you to download pages from a Web site and have them updated at regular intervals. This is called subscribing to a Web site. In spite of the name, it does not cost you anything to subscribe to a Web site.
In Internet Explorer, once you find the site you want, you choose the Favorites|Add to Favorites menu.
The first option, "No, just add the page to my favorites," does exactly what it says, adds the site to the Favorites folder. The other two options allow Internet Explorer to inform you if the Web site gets updated. The last option also downloads the page so you can view it offline. This is the option we'll choose. Clicking the Create In>> button will let you place the pages.
The next step is to click on the Customize button, where you can choose how and when the pages are updated.
The Subscription Wizard takes you through the process of subscribing to a site. We will choose to download the page and pages linked to it.
The Wizard will then ask you how many levels down you want to download. You should be very careful here, as choosing too high a number can make connection time much longer and take more space on the computer.
You can be informed via email if the pages get updated. Otherwise, a red mark on the pages' icon indicates an update.
This is where you can change the schedule for updates. Typically, you set the schedule for when you wouldn't be using the computer.
The last display, which we won't show here, allows you to add your user name and password if the site requires it.
To delete a subscription, go to the Favorites|Manage Subscriptions menu and right-click on the site you wish to delete. You then choose Delete from the shortcut menu.
Microsoft has an Active Desktop Gallery available that you can use to turn your desktop background into a Web page. To get started, right-click an open area of the desktop and choose Active Desktop|Customize My Desktop.
You then click on the New button to get started.
You can choose from anything on the left side. Once you find the item you want, you click on the orange "Add to Active Desktop" icon. For this example, we'll add the CBS SportsCenter Ticker, which is located under the Sports section. Here is what it looks like on the Active Desktop.
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last modified 10/22/99 pjm