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1) i believe he used to gai power??? and to see what the enemy was planning
2) what he saw, i do not kno, but things that disturbed him, put there by sauron to throw him off most likely
3) first of all, denenthor is a bit stronger than pippin, and second, although it didnt kill him, it drove him mad, as you saw in the film

if he saw what the enemy was planning why the hell didint he do anything? stupit old fool

Because he was frightened.
Sauron showed him far more than he really possessed which made Denethor believe that he had no chance - and because he thought so it actually turned out to be as he thought.

Ok, to clear this one up...

The Palantirs are not by nature evil and were granted to the Kings of Men as gifts. They became corrupting only when Sauron captured one and those who looked into the Palantirs started to make contact with him. However, they were always quite dangerous items to use as there was great strain involved in their function.

Two things make you more ready to use a Palantir:

1. Your basic level of power

2. Your 'right' to use it.

Saruman and Denthor both qualified. Saruman had the power and Denethor, as the leader of the world of Men (and with some royal blood in his veins as the Stewards were not completely vulgar), had the right even though that right was not as strong as would be for the line of Kings descended from Elendil/Isildur. Also Denethor, in the books, is noted as being quite a powerful Dunadan with the gift of limited foresight (as some Dunadan sometimes have, an off-shoot of their Elvish roots).

As ever in Tolkien's world, power is more evil than right. Sauron was able to twist Saruman's will towards greed and treachery as they linked via the Palantirs. Dentheor, with the right to use them, could not be so corrupted. Instead, however, Sauron showed Denethor glimpses of a hopeless future, and did this over a long period of time to the point where Denethor was driven to paranoid insanity to the point where Denethor thought nothing could be done.

Pippin did not vaguely qualify and so use of the Palantir by him was incredibly hazardous. He could never have been corrupted by it, though, as that would require prolonged contact of which he was not capable.

Yay...makes me want the extended version even more.

nice going Ush

I'm definately seeing rotk in theaters a few more times...

I would go crazy if I didn't see it about 5 times in theatres. I've spent the last day trying to figure out the soonest I can go again. It'll have to be after all this snow stops though.

I'm going to take my dad for Christmas, I'll probably go with my cousin, I'll probably go with one of my friends that hasn't gotten to see yet, and maybe go again with another friend that likes lotr just as much as i do... and maybe a few more times! Well, my sis is coming home for christmas from atlanta with her husband, maybe we'll go... right now I'm still in denial that it's over... but check the hobbit thing... i just put down an interview with the press about lotr and the hobbit came up. I hope that he'll be able to do it.

Thx a lot Ush

-To view what the enemy was up to....
-Sauron's plans (so he thought, and misinterpreted...)
-It drove him insane, which is actually what Pippin was doing......I think that's quite an effect, don't u think?!
Besides, Denethor--whether a jerk with Faramir or not--was older and wiser, therefor, must have had a tougher mind than Pippin...Though I gotta give the little guy major props!