Welcome to Microsoft Reader

Microsoft Reader is an eBook reader; that is, you can use it to browse through versions of books that have been formatted electronically to be read on your computer screen.

New eBooks are being created all the time and range from reference books, such as dictionaries and encyclopedias (as shown in Figure 9-1), to the latest popular novels and literary classics.

Figure 9-1: Looking up words in the Encarta Pocket Dictionary is easy; it will even pronounce them for you!

The Tablet PC is a perfect device for reading eBooks because it's got a good-sized, high-quality color screen (as opposed to a PDA, which is tiny and doesn't have nearly as good a screen quality), and the Tablet PC is portable, so you can read eBooks on a plane, in a cab, or in your living room chair.

Activating Reader

Before you can use Microsoft Reader, you have to activate your software online so that your computer can access certain online content required for downloading eBooks.

After you've activated your copy of Reader, you can access Reader online content from up to a total of eight computers, PDAs, or eBook reader devices, though you have to run the activation process on each one individually.

Follow these steps to activate Microsoft Reader:

1. Choose StartðAll ProgramsðMicrosoft Reader to open Microsoft Reader.

   When you first open the software, you'll be asked to activate it, which you do online; be sure you're logged on to the Internet.

2. Tap the link that Reader offers you.

   The Activation screen opens, as shown in Figure 9-2.

   
   Figure 9-2: Activating your Reader enables you to browse eBook content online.

    Tip  You'll have to have a Microsoft .NET Passport to activate Reader. This program automates logging on to online sites by providing a single sign-in access.

3. If you have a Passport, tap Sign In.

   If you don't have a Passport, then tap Get One, follow the steps required to obtain a Passport, and then tap Sign In.

4. If you want to sign in automatically in the future (without having to enter a password) tap the Sign Me In Automatically check box.

   The Passport dialog box appears.

5. Enter your Passport password and tap OK.

   The Security Warning dialog box appears, asking if you want to install and run Microsoft Reader Activation Client Components.

6. Tap Yes to proceed.

   The screen shown in Figure 9-3 appears.

   
   Figure 9-3: This is the final step in activating your Microsoft Reader software.

7. Tap Continue to proceed.

   A screen appears, showing the progress of the installation. When installation is complete, the screen disappears and your copy of Reader is activated.

Shopping for eBooks!

After the Microsoft Reader software is activated, you're ready to load eBooks into your reader. This usually involves shopping. Now, next to reading, my favorite thing is shopping.

(Well, to be completely honest, next to shopping my favorite thing is chocolate.) This shopping trip involves purchasing eBooks online and simply downloading the content directly to your Tablet PC.

Many companies offer eBooks for sale online. Microsoft provides free eBook downloads, such as the Encarta Pocket Dictionary that was available when I wrote this book, to get you started.

Microsoft also offers a catalog of eBooks on its Web site at www.mslit.com, as well as links to booksellers and publishers who offer their own eBooks for sale:

• Barnes & Noble: www.bn.com

• Amazon: www.amazon.com

• Audible: www.audible.com

• CyberRead: www.cyberread.com

 Tip  Most booksellers offer a few free eBooks to whet your appetite for the format, though they're not likely to be current bestsellers. Browse around their sites and see what you can find.

To shop for eBooks, follow these steps:

1. Tap the Shop button on the Microsoft Reader main screen.

   The Library window appears, as shown in Figure 9-4.

   
   Figure 9-4: The eBooks that you have downloaded are listed in your Microsoft Reader Library.

2. In the Library window, tap the link for Shop with Microsoft Reader (www.microsoft.com/reader/shop.asp).

   The Microsoft Reader home page appears.

3. Tap Catalog and Shop in the list on the left.

   You can shop from the eBook Catalog to buy eBooks from Microsoft; or choose Shop Booksellers; Shop Publishers (as shown in Figure 9-5); or Shop Worldwide.

   
   Figure 9-5: Links to publishers, such as Smithsonian Institution Press, offer a world of online content.

When you find the eBook that you want, you have to go through the shopping process for that particular site (placing the eBook in your shopping cart and entering payment information, for example).

Then you initiate the download process. Your eBook will be downloaded directly to your Microsoft Reader Library, ready for you to open and read.

 Tip  eBooks cost around $10; you have no paperback or hardcover pricing difference to worry about!

Navigating an eBook

Whether you're juggling your Tablet PC on your knees in your doctor's waiting room or on a towel on the beach, you'll find navigating eBooks to be easy with your pen device.

To open an eBook in Microsoft Reader, just tap its title in the Library (refer to Figure 9-4). The title page of the eBook opens.

To navigate around the eBook, tap the Go To button to display the menu shown in Figure 9-6.

Figure 9-6: Control your reading experience from this menu.

From this menu, you can tap items to go to any of the following:

• Table of Contents displays a listing of contents; each item in the table of contents is a link that takes you to that area of the eBook.

• Most Recent Page takes you back to the last page viewed.

• Begin Reading takes you to the title page of the eBook and provides a set of navigation tools for listening to an audio reading of the eBook or navigating among the eBook's pages.

• Begin Playing takes you to the start of the eBook with the audio narration activated.

• Furthest Read takes you to latest spot in the eBook that you have displayed previously.

• Annotations displays any annotations you've added in the eBook.

• About This Title displays the copyright information for the eBook (you know, that page at the beginning of a book that nobody reads).

• Cover Image takes you to a full-page view of the cover page; to close it and return to the cover page with the menu that appears when you first open an eBook, simply tap the page.

Reading an eBook

When you are reading the contents of an eBook, you see something called a Visual Guide at the bottom of each page, as shown in Figure 9-7. This guide contains a set of tools for moving around your eBook.

Figure 9-7: Use the tools here to move around your open eBook.

To read an eBook, tap the Forward button in the Visual Guide to move forward in the eBook, and tap the Back button to move back one page. Tap the Next Section button to move to the next chapter or story in a collection, and tap the Previous Section button to move back to the preceding chapter or story.

When you're viewing a page of an eBook, you can use a drop-down list to return to the main Reader menu.

To open this drop-down list, tap the downward-pointing arrow next to the eBook title at the top of any eBook page.

 Tip  You may encounter linked text in an eBook. If you do, you can tap it to be taken to a referenced Web site, as long as your computer is online.

Keeping your place: Annotating

When I read a book, I have to confess that I'm guilty of folding down page corners, keeping my place with an old grocery receipt, and even occasionally highlighting important passages with a thick yellow highlighter.

(Not library books, of course; please don't send the Library Police after me!)

If you're anything like me, you'll be happy to hear that Microsoft Reader allows you to add a variety of notations to an eBook.

If you see a page you'd like to mark so you can easily return there, you can bookmark it by tapping the Annotate button in the Visual Guide.

This action puts a small flag on the margin of the page that looks like a little bar outline with a couple of points on the end (as shown in Figure 9-8).

Figure 9-8: If you want to remember a page, use these flags to mark it.

Wherever you are in the eBook, you can tap this flag and instantly return to that page. Annotation flags are automatically color coded so that each one is a unique color, making it easier to keep track of multiple annotations.

 Tip  You can also tap and drag with your pen to select text in an eBook; then choose Add Bookmark (from the menu that appears) to insert an annotation flag.

You can display a list of all your annotations in the open eBook; just display the Go To drop-down list and choose Annotations. A list of all annotations you've made in that eBook appears, each with its appropriately colored flag.

To go to a particular annotated page, just tap it in this list.

 Tip  You can change the color used for any annotation: Just right-tap the flag on the eBook page and choose Change Color. Then choose a different color from the drop-down palette that appears.

You can do other things to mark up your eBook. Tap anywhere in the text of a page and drag to select some text; a menu that enables you to do any of the following then appears:

• Add Bookmark places an Annotation flag on the page that is currently displayed.

• Add Highlight highlights the selected text in yellow.

• Add Text Note opens a window where you can type a text note. When you tap outside of the note, it is attached to the selected text.

  A small note symbol appears in the margin of the page; you can tap the note symbol to read the note.

• Add Ink Comment is unique to Tablet PC; it provides you with a toolbar so you can write directly on the eBook page by using your pen (see Figure 9-9), erase ink text, and save an ink comment.

  
  Figure 9-9: If you see something you just have to comment on, do it with the tools on this toolbar and your Tablet PC pen.

• Add Drawing is available only if freeform drawings are in an eBook. If the eBook has freeform drawings, select one by tapping on it and choose this command from the menu to edit or delete the drawing.

• View Picture lets you view any selected graphic in a separate window, where you can magnify or shrink it.

• Find looks for selected text elsewhere in the eBook as either an exact or approximate match.

• Copy Text copies selected text; you can then use the Paste command in any other program to insert a copy of the text in another document.

• Play begins playing the audio narration, starting at the selected text.

• Lookup opens the Encarta Pocket Dictionary feature and displays a definition for a selected word.

Changing the display

I hate to say it, but I have recently joined the ranks of those who are noticing the page getting a bit blurry when I read. This means that my eyes are getting older (not me, just my eyes . . .).

Whether you have older eyes or younger ones, you may appreciate some control over the Microsoft Reader display to make reading on your screen as comfortable as possible.

 Tip  To get optimum-quality text display in Microsoft Reader, use a resolution setting higher than 800 x 600 on your Tablet PC display.

You can control the size of the font, the clarity of the type, and the size of the Reader environment. You can also control whether annotation features are turned on or off and control the settings for how the voice narration reads your eBook text.

To modify font settings, follow these steps:

1. From the main Reader screen or the drop-down list on an eBook page, select Settings.

   The Font Settings screen, as shown in Figure 9-10, appears. (Note if another Setting screen appears, tap Go To, then select Font Settings from the menu that appears.)

   
   Figure 9-10: View a preview of text at the size setting you select here.

2. Move the slider to a different selection to make text larger or smaller.

   The preview text changes to reflect the size choice.

You can select other setting options from the Go To menu and follow the directions to make the simple setting choices offered.

Sorting and searching your library

I suppose there are people who alphabetize their books (librarians come to mind), but I admit that my own bookshelves are pretty chaotic.

You can imagine how delighted I was to find that in Microsoft Reader, you can easily find what you need, as if a little librarian snuck into my Tablet PC overnight.

After you have quite a few eBooks in your Microsoft Reader Library, you can use the Sort feature to sort eBooks by Title, Author, Last Read, Book Size, and Date Acquired. You can also search by Author or Title.

Sorting and searching are very simple. You simply tap the Sort menu (as shown in Figure 9-11) or the Search menu; then tap the option you prefer, such as By Author. That's it!

Figure 9-11: If you want to clear out older eBooks, why not sort by Date Acquired?

 Tip  The current sort order will be unavailable on the Sort list when you display it.