Using power management

If you use batteries as a power source for a laptop or portable computer, you can set Windows 95 to display a battery meter on the taskbar or to show the power remaining in the battery that you are currently using.

Your computer manufacturer might provide additional power-management options for your computer. For more information, see your computer documentation.

To set power-management features in Windows, click the Start button, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click the Power icon.


Service for NetWare Directory Services

If your computer is connected to a Novell NetWare network that is running NetWare Directory Services (NDS), you can log in to NDS when you log on to Windows 95. There is full support for NetWare login script commands, including those used in some previous versions of NetWare. You can also run NDS-aware command-line utilities, such as NLIST or NETADMIN, and programs, such as NWADMIN.

When you browse your Network Neighborhood, you can see NDS objects, such as volumes and printers. You can map drives to NDS directories and printer ports. You can also change your NDS password by clicking the Start button, pointing to Settings, clicking Control Panel, and then clicking Passwords.


Support for voice modems

Voice modems transmit and receive digitized voice data. You can use a voice modem, for example, if you want to use your computer as an answering machine to receive voice messages. You must use a voice modem with programs such as Microsoft Phone.

The voice modem driver in Windows 95 supports voice modems that implement the TIA IS-101 standard or similar command sets, such as AT+V or AT#V commands.


Large drive support

Windows now supports the use of drives greater than 2 GB (gigabytes) in capacity. The maximum supported drive size is 2 TB (terabytes). Large drive support can help you dramatically reduce the amount of wasted space on your computer's hard disk.


What's new in Microsoft Internet Explorer?

  For Web browsers

  For Web authors

  For Web site administrators


For Web browsers

For more convenient Web browsing, you can now download files from the Internet in a separate window while you continue browsing other Web pages.

The new resizable toolbar provides you with Quick Links that give you fast and easy access to great Internet pages with content that is updated regularly.

With the industry-standard Internet ratings support, parents can filter out Web sites that could be inappropriate for their children.

Internet Explorer also provides support for ActiveX documents. This means that you can view documents such as Microsoft Office files right in Internet Explorer, without starting another program, such as Microsoft Word.


For Web authors

Internet Explorer provides support for all of the latest HTML authoring features, including some features that are unique to Internet Explorer, such as borderless frames, floating frames, and HTML style sheets.

Internet Explorer also provides support for ActiveX controls, which enable you to add custom capabilities, such as sound, animations, and 3-D graphics.  To use these capabilities, you will need to install additional components.

For even more exciting Web pages, you can now use Visual Basic Scripting Edition and JScript to create sophisticated pages with information that is active rather than static.


For Web site administrators

SSL 2.0, SSL 3.0, and PCT security provide ultra-secure transactions over the Internet. For example, this new feature of Internet Explorer enables you to make secure credit card transactions over the Internet.


Microsoft Internet Mail and News

Internet Mail

Microsoft Internet Mail is fast, friendly, and easy to use. With an Internet connection and Microsoft Internet Mail, you can exchange e-mail messages with other people who have access to the Internet. Internet Mail fully supports Internet messaging standards, including SMTP/POP3 and MIME.

You can organize and sort your messages in folders and automatically insert your personal signature in outgoing messages.

You can view a list of messages and preview the contents of the message in one window, using the message list and preview pane. There you can respond to messages and switch folders to see more messages.

Internet Mail provides an address book for storing the e-mail addresses of people you correspond and quickly inserting the addresses in messages. The address book also allows you to verify e-mail names to make sure they are valid before you send a message.

Internet News

With over 10,000 newsgroups, Usenet newsgroups offer something for everyone. From hobbies to politics to computers, newsgroups provide forums for exchanging ideas, information, and opinions.

You can go to a newsgroup just to read  what other people have to say, or you can post your own questions, tips, opinions, or answers.

You can view a topic and all of the responses posted to it without having to scroll through the entire list of messages. When you do view the list of messages, you can expand and collapse individual topics to make it easier to look for messages or topics of interest.

Looking for a newsgroup that matches your work, educational, or leisure interests? You can search for newsgroups that contain key words in the newsgroup name or description. Or you can browse a list of all of the newsgroups available from your Usenet provider.

When you find a newsgroup that you want to keep coming back to, add it to your list of Favorites. You can mark messages, topics, or entire newsgroups to show that you have already read them.

To start Internet Mail and News, just double-click the Internet Mail and Internet News icons on your desktop.


Content Advisor

Using Content Advisor, parents, teachers, or other individuals designated as computer supervisors can control the material that others can gain access to on the Internet. Content Advisor makes browsing the Internet safer for families and kids.

When Web pages are rated by those who create them, Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 detects the rating levels. A computer supervisor uses Content Advisor to select a rating system and then set appropriate viewing levels in several categories, such as violence or obscenity.

Only individuals designated as computer supervisors can change viewing levels and give other users permission to view information that either is not rated or is rated at an unacceptable viewing level.

To view or set ratings levels, click the Start button, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click User Management.


Microsoft NetMeeting

Using Microsoft NetMeeting, you can communicate online with other people in a group conference. Microsoft NetMeeting contains a Whiteboard program you can use to draw a picture and add text, which other people can view at remote locations. You can also communicate with text by using the Chat program.

The ability to share files enables you to open files located on another person's computer. You can also give control of a program on your computer to someone in another location or send files to other people participating in the conference.

You can host a meeting or set Microsoft NetMeeting to automatically accept a meeting whenever you are called by another host.


Microsoft Personal Web Server
Personal Web Server and Web Post Wizard

Microsoft Personal Web Server is a network file and application server that transmits information in HTML files by using the Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP). Personal Web Server enables you to:

Publish Web pages on the Internet or over a local area network (LAN) on an intranet.

Transmit or receive files using FTP (file transfer protocol) service.