Monk

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Monk signs into Windows Live Messenger and groans upon seeing that they want you to install yet a newer version. Can't they wait at least once a year to put out a supposed upgrade? (Or has it actually been a year already?) It is tiring that everyone is constantly wanting you to upgrade. I don't even want to think about that new Windows Vista deal!

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As I put an end to this day, before I shut down the computer, I just want to say that it has been a lot of fun surfing the web without the control bars and buttons, using the full screen for the web pages. I am sorry that it took me this long to learn of this facility. It is the only way to fly! This and tabbed browsing.

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In Monk's haphazard and circuitous route toward learning more about computers, he accidently made a discovery this morning that was at first frightening but now rather happy.

The Times has this function where you they will give you some encyclopedic or dictionary information on a word that you click while pressing "ALT." When Monk availed himself of that today, he saw his IE7 bars and task bar disappearing, with the web page taking over the whole screen. While this was admittedly neat, Monk was scared about losing his controls, and the old trusty "Escape" key was no help at all.

But calm eventually and gradually returned. Frantically moving his cursor about, he learned that he can get his top bars and buttons by moving his cursor to the topmost of the screen. Neat! And he at least knew already how to use that 'flag' key to get the START window, which also brings back the task bar. And he finally learned, after getting over his fear of the "ALT" key, that by pressing that again, he can get everything back in dafault mode.

So, that's really cool. I like being able to take advantage of the full screen to see more of the web page. The only potential drawback is that I am still unsure if I will get the notifications from my tray regarding e-mails and other nice notices. I suppose that I will learn the answer to that sometime today.

Wonderful! God, how did we live without computers before. Although I suppose that I might rather have a pretty, little wife, I think computers have to be a close second. "Okay, Bo, maybe a third. But I'm afraid you still might be only a second."

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ALL HAIL, MONKEY-KNIGHT!

I have finally joined the 21st century in Internet chic. I now have IE7. Who has tabbed browsing? That's right, I do.

Man, I thought I was never going to get it. They have been promising it for ages. But you cannot keep a good primate down.

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Monk sees Yahoo offering a link for people to download IE7. Monk's brow furrows in frustration. He never has gotten that promised update from Microsoft that would automatically give him IE7. It has been two weeks.

He has not gotten any Windows updates since that promise. Monk was left wondering if his new hard drive might have botched things, but he vaguely remembers getting automatic updates since getting the hard drive. Maybe it is a long rotation. Pop has not gotten it either.

I hope Microsoft has not changed its mind. I do not think Monk will work up the nerve to download it himself, especially with that promise hanging in the air.

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Last week, on the Yahoo page, Monk saw a ready offer to download Internet Explorer 7. Monk had heard that Microsoft was finally catching up with the other browsers, but he was afraid to venture to that undiscovered country. Not long after that, Al posted about downloading IE7, and he was rapturous, going on about all that tabbed browsing and all the new gee-whiz features. This whetted Monk's appetite all the more, but he still could not find the nerve.

Then, this morning, I come across this article in The Washington Post, and it looks like Microsoft is going to spare the spineless likes of Monk the agony of downloading the new browser:

But some users can't or won't make the effort to download and install new software. So now Microsoft will do it for them. Starting Wednesday, its new, Windows XP-only Internet Explorer 7 will be automatically installed on their computers through XP's Windows Update mechanism.

So, that is something to look forward to. Apparently, though, there is some reason to be a little worried:

But none of those features will be as immediately noticed as IE 7's new interface. This browser, like many recent Microsoft releases, ditches traditional text menus in favor of toolbar buttons that sometimes double as drop-down menus. This sleek design takes up much less space, but it also lacks consistency and bumps some often-used functions, like the home-page button, to odd locations.

In any case, if you've been using IE 6 for years, you may not know where to click when IE 7 lands on your computer.

This could prove to be an adventure, even good for laughs, as Monk struggles frantically to come to grips with twenty-first-century Internet surfing. But I am looking forward to it.


(source: Rob Pegoraro for The Washington Post)

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