by Amy Helen Johnson, Senior Technology Editor, Windows Magazine
The Active Desktop changes your Windows shell from a passive expanse of shortcuts into an interactive realm of real-time information delivery. It allows you to use your desktop as a window to the Web and gives you access to your personal computer and network if applicable.
The Active Desktop might not be for everyone--one size does not fit all. For this reason, Microsoft made the Active Desktop configurable. It not only offers you a choice of components to extend the desktop's capabilities, but it gives you
choices about the features of the desktop itself (such as the behavior of the mouse). You can even turn the Active Desktop off if you don't want to use it.
This chapter will cover the following topics:
Windows 98 gained a wealth of new features and options with the inclusion of Internet Explorer 4 (IE4). The most notable changes involve its desktop interface. One new feature of the interface is its capability to display Web-based content on the desktop, which Microsoft named the Active Desktop. This gives the desktop itself--the expanse of space that is your main workspace--a much more prominent role in Windows 98. Instead of being a passive bulletin board where you stick up shortcuts to important files and applications, like crumbled checkout coupons and your kid's fingerprint drawings, the Windows 98 desktop is interactive. You stick up active components that automatically display information in real-time, more like a TV set constantly providing you with a changing stream of relevant data than a static bulletin board.
This data stream can be active--based on a live Web connection--so that it changes periodically. Weather watchers, for instance, are a popular desktop component; they display the current temperature and weather information periodically on your desktop, without any intervention from you.
The Active Desktop is also interactive; for example, you can install the Address toolbar, a type of query component that allows you to send requests for information without opening an application. In the case of the Address toolbar, you can request a list of the contents of a folder or ask to see a Web page without needing to be in Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer. The Active Desktop will automatically launch those applications for you to display the results of your query. Other available components allow you to do different interactive tasks without opening a Windows utility or full-blown application. A section later in this chapter will point you to a place on the Internet where you can find these components.
The Windows 98 component-enabled desktop's capability to be active and interactive make it much more flexible than that of Windows 95. In its former state, the desktop was a lot of wasted real estate. Now the desktop is a sophisticated interactive display. For example, you can stay instantly up-to-date on things like stock quotes, receive regular delivery of downloads from Web sites, or send search requests through an applet without paying the overhead of launching an application (see Figure 25.1).
FIGURE 25.1 The Windows 98 desktop is component enabled, which allows you to add HTML pages, ActiveX components, IE4 channels, and Java applets to your desktop for interactive information delivery.
The types of components you can place on the Windows 98 desktop include Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) pages, ActiveX components, IE4 channels, and Java applets. You can also use graphics for background images as in Windows 95, except that the range of file formats available to you is wider. In addition to the standard bitmap graphics, you can also pick a Joint Picture Experts Group (JPEG) or Graphical Interchange Format (GIF) image.
This means that when you're using Windows 98's Active Desktop capabilities, your interface looks vastly different than when you have it turned off. In fact when you turn it off, Windows 98 can be hard to distinguish from Windows 95. There's a static background, perhaps a color or custom wallpaper, and shortcuts--just like Windows 95. You see the same Start menu, the same Taskbar with an icon tray for resident utilities, and the same large area containing shortcuts for applications and files. But your first clue that things are different is on the Taskbar; it usually contains a new toolbar with four icons that allow you to quickly launch several Windows 98 utilities. There are more changes underneath the exterior of the screen in front of you; they involve added functionality to familiar items, a new look and feel to utilities, and new ways to control those utilities and the contents of your desktop.
One example of these new features is that all browsers, whether file or Web browsers, include Back and Forward buttons. The Windows 98 desktop interface also has many configuration options like the choice of using single- or double-clicks to launch applications, the choice of which toolbars to use, and different ways to expand the default set of applications you can access through the Taskbar. Furthermore, the browsers are context sensitive, which means it offers you different options depending on the task you're doing. This new way of interacting with files and folders is called Web style.
Before you get too deep into learning about the Active Desktop, you first need to understand the major changes that appear in the desktop interface's file managers and Taskbar. Therefore, it's important that you read the chapter explaining the new capabilities of the Windows 98 desktop and when and why they become available, if you haven't already done so. You'll find this information in Chapter 6, "Using Windows 98." This chapter covers how to use folders, Taskbars, and the Start Menu most effectively.
It's important to understand that the Web-style Windows 98 interface and its Active Desktop are separate but dependent. You must use Web style if you want the Active Desktop, but you don't have to use the Active Desktop if you choose to enable the Web-style interface. We'll discuss the dependencies between these two features later in this chapter.
NOTE: The rest of this chapter assumes that you have read Chapter 6, which gives you the foundation you need to successfully configure and use the Active Desktop.
You can set configuration options whether the Active Desktop is turned on or off, but you must enable it to experience the benefits of your work configuring it. To double check whether the Active Desktop is indeed active, right-click anywhere on the desktop and slide your mouse up the Context menu to the Active Desktop entry and open the submenu. If the entry on the submenu titled View As Web Page has a check mark next to it, the desktop is activated.
Although the Active Desktop is distinct from the Web style of folder options, the two interfaces are dependent. The first part of this section explains how the choices you make for folder options affect your ability to have an Active Desktop enabled. The second section goes into the details of setting all the customization options, under the assumption that you're using a folder style that supports Active Desktop and that the desktop is activated.
In Chapter 6 you learned how to set your folder options for the way you viewed files and folders. You reach folder options several ways; this chapter discusses only one so you can double-check your settings to make sure they don't interfere with your ability to use the Active Desktop.
You can reach folder options through the Active Desktop by right-clicking on the desktop, scrolling up to Active Desktop, and selecting Customize My Desktop. You'll see a dialog box like the one shown in Figure 25.2. Click the Folder Options button in the lower right corner. Select Yes when Windows 98 asks you, "Would you like to save and close the Display Properties and view the Folder Options instead?"
You have three choices for your folders' style, as shown in Figure 25.3. Two of them enable you to work with your desktop activated; one does not. We'll discuss each of the three and explain how they affect the Active Desktop.
FIGURE 25.2 You can reach Folder Options through the Active Desktop configuration dialog when you need to doublecheck your settings for the Web-style folders.
FIGURE 25.3 Of the three states for folder options, only two of them allow you to use Windows 98's Active Desktop features.
FIGURE 25.4 Choosing custom settings for your folder options might allow you to enable the Active Desktop, depending on your specific choices for individual settings.
If you're using the Custom style because you've enabled your Active Desktop while in Classic mode, the Settings choices are automatically set correctly, as shown in Figure 25.4. If you're picking your settings yourself, make sure that, of the mutually exclusive pair of radio buttons offered for Active Desktop, you've picked Enable all Web-related content on my desktop.
TIP: If you click the Customize button, shown in Figure 25.4, you'll return to the Active Desktop configuration dialog box, shown in Figure 25.2.
Now that you've set up your Folder Options so that you can enable your Active Desktop, you're ready to consider customization options for the desktop. The desktop for Windows 98 is capable of running any ActiveX controls, Web pages, or applets placed on it. This chapter will show you how to manage those components as well as control newly Web-enabled elements like wallpaper and screen savers.
The main controls for the Active Desktop are under the Display utility. This is traditionally the utility with which you pick your preferred settings for your monitor (things like number of colors and resolution) and for your desktop (things like your Windows color scheme). In Windows 98, you also use this utility to set your options for the Active Desktop. There's a new tab in Display Properties titled Web, and there are different choices available from the Background and Screen Saver tabs.
The new Web tab within the Display Properties dialog box contains the options for your newly interactive desktop. You can get to this tab through any of the following methods:
Figure 25.5 shows the default Active Desktop configuration built into Windows 98. You start out with the Active Desktop enabled and one component, the Internet Explorer Channel Bar, placed on the desktop.
FIGURE 25.5 You can change the appearance of your desktop using the Web tab of the Display Properties sheet.
The monitor screen on this tab is a simple depiction of the elements on your desktop, their sizes, and relative positions. In the area below the monitor, the most important item is the one labeled View my Active Desktop as a web page. You must check this for your desktop to be active. Below this item is a list of all the elements you have installed on your desktop.
Each item has a check box next to it. If there's a mark in the check box, that item is active. A blank check box indicates that the item is not enabled. It does not appear on the desktop, but it does not disappear from your list of installed components, as shown in Figure 25.6.
The difference between installing and enabling a component is an important concept to understand. You can install all the components you want, but unless they're enabled you don't get to use them. You can also disable any of the components, but that doesn't delete them from your desktop; they're still there if you choose to re-enable them.
FIGURE 25.6 An item can be installed on your Active Desktop, but unless it has been enabled by checking the box next to its entry on the component list, it is not available for use.
The buttons next to this list affect the items on the list. They include the following:
FIGURE 25.7 The Subscription tab of a component's properties gives you information about its update schedule and originating URL.
The Receiving tab (see Figure 25.8) contains details about how your computer receives information via the desktop component. If you choose to merely be notified that new data is available, you'll have to manually update the component to receive the content. If you've chosen to subscribe, the data will automatically download to your desktop.
You can also choose to have an e-mail message sent to you as a reminder that the site feeding the component has new content. This is a convenience more than anything; no data is delivered via e-mail. You can set the e-mail address to anything you want by clicking on the Change Address button.
FIGURE 25.8 The Receiving tab has many useful options for setting reminders that new content is available and for initiating unattended downloads from password-protected sites.
One useful feature of these components is that they have built-in intelligence that will automatically log on to a protected site. This is a necessary feature for some paid content and for intranets with security. By clicking on the Login button, you can set up an account name and password, leaving the component free to perform unattended content downloads.
Selecting the Advanced button on the Receiving tab allows you to set limitations on how much content comes to your desktop (see Figure 25.9). This is useful if you have a component that will download a lot of data or very bandwidth-intensive data like movies. The top portion of this dialog box allows you to specify how much of the originating site to bring to your desktop, in terms of link levels. A link level of 1 means Windows 98 will follow every link on the originating page and download the pages it finds. A link level of 2 means it will follow every link on every referenced page. As you might guess, the number of pages can increase exponentially, so be careful setting your link levels. Also be careful when choosing to load external links. They can add to your download burden and might not be of interest.
You can often eliminate a lot of the bulk of a download by choosing to ignore large items like sound files, movies, images, ActiveX controls, and Java applets. You need to decide whether these types of content are necessary to receive the information available through the desktop component.
FIGURE 25.9 The Advanced Download Options allow you to tailor exactly how much content you receive from a component.
This dialog box also gives you the ultimate protection from bloated components: the ability to set a maximum download size. By setting a reasonable limit here, you won't be bothered with downloads that go on forever. This item overrides all the other choices you have made. When it reaches the update limit, Windows 98 won't accept any more data, no matter how many more link levels it is supposed to follow.
The Schedule tab (see Figure 25.10) gives you the opportunity to reset the component's update schedule. See the section "Adding Active Components to the Desktop" later in this chapter to set up a schedule. For now, you need to know that you have the choice of creating a new schedule, switching to an existing schedule, or modifying an existing schedule.
This tab is also where you indicate that you want Windows 98 to dial into your Internet service provider (ISP) to update your desktop. This feature allows you to save connect charges by enabling you to stay offline except for those minutes when your computer is receiving updates.
If you don't wish to have Windows 98 perform an automatic update, you can always opt to place components on manual update status. This requires you to initiate the download yourself, either through the desktop or this dialog box, if you want the information updated. An Update Now button provided on this tab allows you to do this easily.
FIGURE 25.10 The Schedule tab lets you modify the day and time a component performs an update.
The Don't update this subscription when I'm using my computer option allows you to reserve idle times for component updates. Because many of these components can download several hundred kilobytes of data, you might experience a performance drop while Windows 98 attends to the update. If you have a bandwidth-hungry component, you can set this option to ensure that you'll have the power you need to perform your regular work tasks. This is also a useful option if your computer is an older model.
The last button, Folder Options, takes you to the dialog that allows you to configure the behavior of your file managers. Chapter 6 explains that dialog box in detail.
The remaining buttons, OK, Cancel, and Apply, are standard choices for setting dialogs. OK initiates your changes and exits the dialog box. Cancel exits the dialog box without modifying your previous settings. Apply implements your changes without exiting the dialog box.
There are two other tabs on the Display Properties sheet that you'll want to visit before you're through configuring your desktop. One is the Back-ground tab.
You can now use Web graphic-format files--JPEGs and GIFs--as wallpaper. Click on Browse to search for a suitable image (see Figure 25.11). The Pattern and Display options give you choices for filling out your desktop area if the image is too small to fit the full screen. You only get Pattern options if you pick Center as the Display mode. Pattern fills in the blank area surrounding the centered image with a predefined pattern. The other two display options, Tile and Stretch, fill the display area completely, so no pattern is necessary.
FIGURE 25.11 The Background tab in the Display Properties sheet allows you to choose HTML files and Web-format image files for your desktop background.
Another option you have for selecting a background image is to use an HTML page (refer to Figure 25.11). You can set it by selecting an entry from the list provided on the Background tab or by browsing. Picking an HTML page doesn't give you pattern and tiling options.
You can also pick an image on a Web page to use as wallpaper. This is such a common occurrence that there's a right-click option that allows you to do so. When you're in Internet Explorer looking at a Web site, hover over an image, right-click, and select the Save as Wallpaper option.
FIGURE 25.12 You can set up a channel to which you subscribe as your screen saver.
Ninety percent of the effort of using the Active Desktop goes into configuring it; when you have it set to your liking, there's little you need to do in terms of maintenance or usage. However, there are a few tricks and miscellaneous tools you should know about to get the most out of Windows 98.
You can turn the desktop on and off easily. Don't be afraid to go back to a static desktop; Windows 98 will remember all the interactive items you've placed on the desktop and revive them as soon as you reactivate it.
The easiest way to turn the desktop on and off is to right-click anywhere within the desktop area. From the Context menu, select Active Desktop | View As Web Page. If this item has a check mark beside it, the desktop is Web enabled. If not, you're using Classic mode.
As already discussed, when you turn off your Active Desktop, any active components do not display. They do remain in their previous state, however. This means that if you had a component enabled (with a check mark next to its entry in the component list on the Web tab of the Display Properties sheet), then it is still enabled. But because the desktop in total is disabled, the component doesn't display.
If your background wallpaper is set to an HTML file, then turning off the desktop makes the wallpaper revert to the previous non-HTML-file choice. The channel screen saver still operates, however.
Now that you have your Active Desktop initialized and configured, you'll want to put some elements on it. There are two ways to go about this.
First, visit the Microsoft Active Desktop Gallery (see Figure 25.13) at http://www.microsoft.com/ie/ie40/gallery/. This page contains links to dozens of components that perform tasks like searching the Web, supplying weather information, delivering fresh news, and playing a stock ticker.
You can easily reach the gallery through the Web tab in the Display Properties sheet. Click on the New button and you'll be taken directly to the gallery.
It's simple to add a component; just find the component you want and then click on the Add to Active Desktop button.
FIGURE 25.13 The Active Desktop Gallery is your first stop for finding components that will work with your Windows 98 Active Desktop.
There are some security considerations involved with adding components to your desktop, as Figure 25.14 demonstrates. Windows 98 will ask you whether you want this component installed, and you will see a security certificate identifying the organization that created the component. This is a security issue because adding an active component means copying software to your computer--a potentially hazardous undertaking if the person who wrote the software is a malicious programmer. The purpose of the security certificate is to allow you to identify the source and decide whether you wish to trust it. Answer Yes if you want to continue; otherwise, no component will be installed.
FIGURE 25.14 The security certificate you see when you ask to add a component to your desktop gives you an opportunity to learn about the source of the software and decide if you trust it enough to copy the software to your computer.
When you see the dialog box shown in Figure 25.15, you're nearly done. If you want, you can select OK at this point and your component will install with default options.
FIGURE 25.15 By selecting OK in this dialog box, your active component will install on your desktop.
Your other choice is to click Customize Subscription and tailor the component's behavior to your needs. Your first option is to set a different update schedule. The publisher of your component will set a default schedule, as shown in Figure 25.16. However, you can modify it, create a new schedule, pick another existing schedule, or manually update the component.
FIGURE 25.16 If you don't want to accept the publisher's schedule, this dialog box lets you set one of your own.
To create your own schedule, click on New; you'll see the creation dialog box shown in Figure 25.17. To set your custom schedule, you merely need to pick a day and time to launch an update.
The other way you will find Active Desktop components is to peruse the channels. Many channels come in component form. You can tell by looking at the add buttons, as shown in Figure 25.18. The Add Active Channel button makes the site an IE4 channel. Click the Add to Active Desktop button to get the same security and scheduling dialogs already discussed.
FIGURE 25.17 All it takes to create a custom schedule is to set a day and time for your update.
FIGURE 25.18 You can also turn a channel into a desktop component if the publisher has provided that option.
There are several ways you can update your Active Desktop components. The easiest is to set a schedule, as explained in the previous section. But there are also several manual methods.
The most obvious one is to right-click anywhere on the desktop, scroll up to the Active Desktop submenu on the pop-up menu, and select the Update Now sub-option. This will update every component you have, so it's not ideal if you want to initiate an update for just one item.
A full update will occur if you click on the Start menu, select Settings | Active Desktop | Update Now.
If you want to update just a single component, you can open the Web tab of the Display Properties sheet, right-click an entry, and select Properties. On an individual item's properties menu, the Schedule tab has an option for manually updating just that element (refer to Figure 25.10).
There's another way to reach the Display Properties sheet directly from a component. If you hover at the top of a desktop element, a gray bar appears. On the left side of this bar is a down-arrow. Click it and a small menu appears; one of its entries is Properties.
You can also update desktop components from the Subscription window. The first entry, named Desktop, refers to a desktop component whose properties you saw displayed in Figure 25.7. Because Windows 98 considers Active Desktop components and channel subscriptions to be nearly equivalent, you can manage both through this window. Just highlight the entry for your desktop component; then either right-click on it and select Update Now or click on the Update button on the toolbar. You can get to the Subscription Manager by clicking on the Favorites menu in either Windows Explorer, My Computer, or Internet Explorer and then selecting Manage Subscriptions from the drop-down menu.
When figuring out whether your system can handle another Active Desktop element, consider these questions:
If you're having problems with your Active Desktop components slowing down your computer or hogging all the bandwidth, remember that you have the ultimate solution at your fingertips: turn off or delete the control. The Active Desktop is all about what you want to include on your system. There's no reason to keep using a component that causes problems.
© Copyright, Macmillan Computer Publishing. All rights reserved.
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