MSN Explorer is pretty...that's for sure!
But with a price!

@@@@@@ THE UPSIDES @@@@@@

STEP-BY-STEP FROM THE START
It's a quick download, you can find advertised all over or more directly at http://explorer.msn.com/home.htm
It's a 5 MB download which they equate to approximately 16 minutes at 56k.
I did like how when you go to click on the INSTALL button it pops up a message telling you to run it from current location instead of saving it to disk, since this choice often dumbfounds new users, or they save it somewhere, never to be found again.

EASY TO USE
From the ease of downloading, installing, running and using, it's definitely catered for the newbie on the computer. In fact, it would be a great bridge from WebTV or the like. It prompts, explains, and details everything out, and even offers to go through and explain it all in detail when you first run it. This is good - if you are a newbie.

</b>VERY PRETTY</b>
I'd almost say "Flashy", but it is definitely nice on the eyes. Starting with the pretty, rainbow-colored butterfly to the star button for your favorites, the round-headed people and obvious, music-note icon.
One of the neatest features is the spinning envelope in the email section that zips off the side of the window when email is successfully sent- nice graphics.

INCLUSIVE FEATURES
Email, surfing, instant messaging, stock market updates, music, chat, shopping, calendar, photos, etc. So much all in one place, yet not overwhelming, and easy to find.

VERY CUSTOMIZED
There are many different things to set up so that its Your Stuff or My Stuff. A personalized calendar, local weather, and photo storage just to name a few.

TO SHARE BUT KEEP YOUR OWN
You can add up to 9 different users, so you can keep your own customizations, while other family members use their own. This area can be password protected if you so choose. Even has a choice of several icons here to select from to put by your name on the list.

EMAIL FEATURES
Being notified INSTANTLY as email comes in is a plus in this browser. Your address book can be imported with ease.

THE PEARL MAY BE THE MEDIA PLAYER
One thing that is sure to be a fave among most people is the Media Player, and how it is incorporated right within the browser. You also have the option of opening it into its own window, if you want. Video, audio, even radio, streamed right into this little program.


@@@@@@ AND NOW FOR THE DOWNSIDES @@@@@@

MSN MSN MSN MSN MSN
Can you escape them? Not hardly. They are everywhere...from the Home Page, which you CANNOT change, to the little Ad/Tip space on the main window, bottom left, that constantly changes. The messaging is MSN Messenger, the email is MSN's Hotmail,the search-engine is MSN- the everything is MSN!

TOO SIMPLE TO GROW WITH
Because you can't use the mail in an email client, change your instant messenger, choose your own startpage, etc. this is not an easy program to grow with, which may be nice for the newbie, but not for even the intermediate internet user. Unless this changes in upgrades, it makes things tight, to say the least.

BUT OH! THE BUGS!
And you might even call them snails, as things just don't move to quickly in this beautiful little world. The pages load slower than in Internet Explorer, the startup process drags on (not even made bearable by the woman's voice saying Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening, as the case may be), and it freezes up on my where other programs just don't. It overrode my regular MSN Messenger program, until I changed it back, and it caused my computer to have errors where there weren't before I ran this as my primary browser.

......AND SO......

MAYBE LATER FOLKS
We should know, most programs are not advisable when they are first released. Conflicts must be worked out, patches made, and problems fixed. But somebody's gotta try things out so they can be found. I did for a couple of weeks but I am not willing to be a Guinea Pig, with 2 or 3 legs willingly cutoff, waiting for artificial limb surgery, no matter how successful it may be- I am not going to sacrifice myself at this point in time. Life's to precious. If I want prettiness I'll either look at my kids, my walls, or out the window.
However...I may be willing to give it a fly when the later models hit the net. And then I just may recommend it highly to net-newbies.





Recommended: No