At Home with Windows XP in Visual C#.NET

Generation Denso QR Bar Code in Visual C#.NET At Home with Windows XP

All of Windows Messenger s features are available in Windows XP Home Edition as well as Windows XP Professional. The optional Group Policy setting that prevents Windows Messenger from running is not available in Home Edition. But if you re a Home Edition user and don t want Windows Messenger to run, you can keep it from appearing by making a small registry modification. For details, see Disabling Windows Messenger in Windows XP Home Edition, page 1053.

Windows Messenger provides a seamless, integrated way for users to participate in text chat, voice and video communication, and data collaboration. As such, it provides the functionality of other programs that were included in earlier versions of Windows. In addition to the messaging capabilities inherited from MSN Messenger, Windows Messenger incorporates audio and videoconference capabilities of Microsoft NetMeeting and Phone Dialer. Although they don t appear on the Start menu, NetMeeting and Phone Dialer are included in Windows XP (Note that the version of Phone Dialer included with Windows XP is the . sophisticated conferencing application introduced with Windows 2000, not the rudimentary eight-number speed dial program of the same name that was included with Windows 95 and Windows 98.) You might want to use these tools, separately from Windows Messenger, in certain situations: If you want to view a directory of and connect with other users whom you don t know, but who may share common interests, use NetMeeting or Phone Dialer. With both programs, you can connect to an Internet location server (ILS), which lists lots of other people who are out there waiting for your call. If you ve already stored NetMeeting conferencing information (that is, names of conferencing servers and the addresses of users) as entries in your Microsoft Outlook Express address book, use NetMeeting. You can continue working with those contacts as you always have. (On the other hand, you might want to suggest that your contacts switch to Windows Messenger so that you can both enjoy its advantages.) If you want to use a sophisticated speed-dial system for making voice calls over standard telephone lines, use Phone Dialer. If you want to hold a voice conference or videoconference with more than two people simultaneously, use Phone Dialer. If you want to use Whiteboard or application sharing with more than two people simultaneously, use NetMeeting. If you want to hold a voice or video conversation, share applications, or use Whiteboard with a user who doesn t have Windows Messenger, use NetMeeting. NetMeeting To start NetMeeting, open the Start menu, choose Run, and type conf. If you use NetMeeting regularly, you ll want to create a shortcut to its executable, %ProgramFiles%\Netmeeting\ Conf.exe. The first time you run NetMeeting, a wizard asks you to provide your name and e-mail address so that you can be found in a directory. (Even if you choose not to list your name in a directory, an ILS server needs this information to know when you re online and how to route NetMeeting calls to your computer.) After completing the wizard, the main NetMeeting window opens, as shown in Figure 29-1.

29

Place call End call Find someone in a directory Start video Picture-in-picture Adjust volume Names of participants in current call Share program Text chat Transfer files Whiteboard

Figure 29-1. The main NetMeeting window provides the tools to make, accept, and control your calls, along with a list of people in the current conversation and a video window. To learn more about NetMeeting, open its Help menu and choose Help Topics. The Help menu includes several links to online information but, because Windows Messenger has largely supplanted NetMeeting, some of these links no longer work. The mother lode of NetMeeting information, the NetMeeting Resource Kit, is available for download at http:// www.microsoft.com/windows/netmeeting/corp/reskit/. Phone Dialer To start PHone Dialer, open the Run dialog box and type dialer. If you want to create a shortcut, you ll find Dialer.exe in the %ProgramFiles%\Windows NT folder. With Phone Dialer, you can mkae videoconference calls to other users on the Internet or on your local area network, as shown in Figure 29-2.