RETIRED - Exploring XBees and XCTU
This Tutorial is Retired!
This tutorial covers concepts or technologies that are no longer current. It's still here for you to read and enjoy, but may not be as useful as our newest tutorials.
View the updated tutorial: Exploring XBees and XCTU
jimblom 
Selecting an Explorer
The first step to communicating with your XBee is picking an interface board that allows you to. XBee Explorers act as a gateway between your computer and your XBee. There are a few to pick from, each offering their own, key differences. Here's a quick overview of each:
XBee Explorer USB
The XBee Explorer USB is the most popular of the Explorers. It's equipped with a mini-B USB connector, so you'll need the proper USB cable to connect it to your computer.
The highlight of this board is an FT231X USB-to-Serial converter. That's what translates data between your computer and the XBee. There's also a reset button, and a voltage regulator to supply the XBee with plenty of power. In addition, there are four LEDs that'll help if you ever need to debug your XBee: RX, TX, RSSI (signal-strength indicator), and a power indicator.
This board also breaks out each of the XBee's I/O pins to a pair of breadboard-compatible headers. So if you want to make use of the XBee's extended functionality, you can solder some header pins into those, or even just solder some wire.
XBee Explorer USB Dongle
The XBee Explorer Dongle is an extension of the Explorer. In fact, the only real difference between this and its predecessor is the USB connector. The Dongle can be connected directly to your laptop or PC USB port.
Or, if you need some distance from your computer, you can use a USB extension cable.
The Dongle still shares all of the features of its sibling -- reset button, LEDs, voltage regulator, and breadboard-compatible pin breakouts.
XBee Explorer Serial
Computers with an RS-232 serial port are becoming harder and harder to find, but if you do have one of those relics, the XBee Explorer Serial is a viable option.
The Serial Explorer has a bigger footprint than its USB-based brethren, but still shares most of the same features. There are RX and TX LEDs, reset button, break-out pins, and a voltage regulator.
The Serial Explorer does require an external power supply. It's got a barrel jack connector which will work with either our 9V or 5V wall adapters.
If you're using an Arduino, another option available is the XBee Shield. That's a subject for another tutorial.