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Learn About Music on Your PC

Microsoft Windows XP Starter Edition


Tune in
the
globe


Listen to music from anywhere in the world! You can hear jazz from Paris, rock from New York, reggae from Jamaica, salsa from Brazil - and more - all with a few mouse clicks. Web radio, which is broadcast over the Internet, is like shortwave, only easier and better. There's no fiddling with dials and antennas, no fuzzy or fading reception. Sound quality is usually perfect no matter how far away the station, subject of course to Internet traffic and the limitations of your Internet connection.

Select a preset station

Windows Media Player allows you to preset Web radio stations that make listening easy. It is a quick and convenient way to get started and a great introduction to the music capabilities of Windows XP Starter Edition. Once you're on the Internet, you can tune in Web radio.

To play a preset Web radio station

  1. Click Start, and then click Windows Media Player.
  2. Click Radio Tuner.
  3. Double-click a preset Web radio station from the list of featured presets.

That's all you have to do. Loading a station usually takes a few seconds, after which playing begins automatically.

Tip

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Create your own presets

Of course, you are not limited to listening only to preset stations. After all, Internet radio is all about choice. It's easy to create your own presets. You can even categorize them so they display in separate lists. For example, you might want to create a list of favorite rock stations and a separate list of news stations.

To create a personalized list of preset stations

  1. Click Start, and then click Windows Media Player.
  2. Click Radio Tuner.
  3. Click My Stations. If you have already selected some stations, click Find More Stations. If you have not yet chosen any stations, click Find Stations to Add.
  4. Radio stations are listed in the right-hand side of the screen. Click on a station that interests you and click Add to My Stations. Repeat as often as you like until you have added all the stations you want.
  5. To listen to a station, click the station name to expand its options, then click Visit Website to Play.

Station Finder

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Streaming audio

Web radio is broadcast by a method called streaming. Instead of sending out a constant signal, the station sends out audio in batches, or packets, across the Internet to reach your computer. Each packet is separately numbered, and the data it contains is compressed (reduced in size) for speedier delivery. When the computer receives packets, it decompresses (reconstitutes) their data and plays them in their proper order. The effect is the same as if the information was delivered by means of a continuous signal.

Without streaming audio, Web radio would not be possible, and full-length media files would take a long time to download. Packets might travel by separate routes to reach your computer and might arrive out of order. To allow for delays, your computer initially stores packets instead of playing them until enough have arrived to fill the time it takes to receive any missing packets before it is their turn to play. The storing process is called buffering.

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Create presets

Create presets
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