MSN Messenger version 7.5 was released about two weeks ago. It was quite a surprise to most as the tech watchers weren't expecting it for another month or more.

Firstly, the bad news for those running Windows 98 and ME - you'll have to be content with Messenger version 7.0. Messenger 7.5 (and later versions) will only run under Windows XP/2003 because of new features that depend on the underlying operating system.

Naturally there's still text messaging but the real improvements have been made to the audio and video conversation section. Audio conversations now take place PC-to-PC for better quality and echo-cancellation helps clarity as well. Tweaking the audio and video settings is now much easier via Tools/Audio and Video Setup within Messenger itself rather than having to go to the settings in Widnows Control Panel.

The improvements made to audio in Messenger are aimed at providing Voice over Internet Protocol phone calls (probably in the next version) whereby we'll not only be able to talk to Messenger contacts but connect to our family and friends via their normal landline or mobile phone.

Other improvements and new features include the sign-in process which is particularly relevant for computers used by different people on an intranet or at a public Internet facility. There are now dynamic backgrounds for the Messenger window (the clock is a good one to see in operation). While nudges and winks are still there, a new method of catching the attention of the person at the other end is the addition of a fifteen second voice clip you can make yourself.

Use MSN Messenger as your starting point and control centre for your Hotmail, your space and spaces of family and friends. So log in as soon as you go online (XP users on broadband can set this up to occur automatically for each user). Apart from knowing they're online, you'll see when your family and friends have updated their space (that little yellow star alongside their name will gleam) and you're only one click away from adding a comment to their space.

You'll have noticed many sites, particularly news sites such as ABC News or BBC News, have a little red button labelled "RSS" or "XML" or a link which talks about something called "RSS feed".

Well "RSS" stands for Really Simple Syndication and its purpose is to save us time by not having to visit numerous sites to view the latest news or see whether new items have been added to a site since our last visit.

To bring together all these RSS feeds in one place is the job of software called a News Aggregator (many of which are free). Once downloaded and installed, you can subscribe to RSS feeds by simply entering the web address (URL) of the feed (you get this by hovering your mouse over the RSS or XML red button). Then when you're online and you start up your news aggregator, it goes off to the sites you've specified and brings up a heading of any new items that have been added to the site. Click on the heading and you're taken to the full story on the site.

Even though a news aggregator program is useful, there's a better way. Microsoft has a team working on some innovations at Start.com where you can see a more convenient way of getting all your news items in one place and, importantly, not having to leave the Start.com site. You can even set up your own page!

Once at Start.com you'll see some feeds already set up. Up at the top right, use your Hotmail/Passport account to sign in (if you've signed in to Messenger when you went online, Start.com will sign you in automatically). Now you can add whatever feeds you want to your own Start.com page for use whenever you're online.

Firstly click on the Start title at the top left to get the full menu and choose Add Content. This brings up a dialogue box into which you enter the address/URL of the RSS feed you want to use. As mentioned above, go to the site that has an RSS feed and hover your mouse over the red RSS or XML button. For example, the webDotWiz Space feed is http://spaces.msn.com/members/webdotwiz/feed.rss, or the ABC News RSS feed is found at http://www.abc.net.au/news/syndicate/topstoriesrss.xml. Now click on My Web (on the full Start menu) to check that your site has been added. Go ahead and add as many feeds as you want.

Click one of your sites under My Web. Usually when we click a site link it either loads into the current browser window or opens a new one - Start.com is different in that the site will load in its own window over the top of what's already displayed. You'll see that you can close this window or Add it to your page - do the latter. Now the site you've chosen will be on the main page and show the latest five topics of news. To clean up your page, click the cross next to those feeds you're not interested in to remove them. As well, if you've got an MSN Space you'll know that you can move modules around the page to get the layout that suits you - it's the same with your Start.com page.

Some of the new features just added the other day include automatic refresh of feeds, read/unread display of feeds and a neater behaviour of the sidebar (the Start menu).

Start.com is an interesting experience with its minimalist display (however there are a couple of different themes) and the innovative use of just one browser window to catch all the news from different sites. Start your browsing day at Start.com!