Easily by using defaultStatus property.
Like :
<script type="text/javascript">
defaultStatus = "This is default status text.";
function setStatus(sStatus)
{
window.status = sStatus;
return false;
}
function getStatus()
{
return window.status;
}
</script>
<body>
<a href="#" onmouseover="setStatus('Hello');">Hover me First</a>
<a href="#" onmouseover="setStatus('World..');" onmouseout="setStatus('..and rest of you!');">..then Me</a>
</body>