A Brief History of the Internet

The U.S. Department of Defense laid the foundation of the Internet roughly 30 years ago with a network called ARPANET. But the general public didn't use the Internet much until after the development of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s. As recently as June 1993, there were only 130 Web sites. Now there are millions. Here's a quick look at how it all came to be.

The Beginnings: ARPANET

In 1957, the United States government formed the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), a segment of the Department of Defense charged with ensuring U.S. leadership in science and technology with military applications. Just more than a decade later, in 1969, ARPA established ARPANET, the forerunner of the Internet.



Research and education

ARPANET was a network that connected major computers at the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of California at Santa Barbara, Stanford Research Institute, and the University of Utah. Within a couple of years, several other educational and research institutions joined the network.

In response to the threat of nuclear attack, ARPANET was designed to allow continued communication if one or more sites were destroyed. Unlike today, when millions of people have access to the Internet from home, work, or their public library, ARPANET served only computer professionals, engineers, and scientists who knew their way around its complex workings.



Evolution

Throughout the 1970s, developers created the protocols used to transfer information over the Internet. By the early 1980s, Usenet newsgroups and electronic mail had been born. Most users ere affiliated with universities, although libraries began to connect their catalogs to the Internet, too. During the late 1980s, developers created indices, such as Archie and Wide Area Information Server (WAIS), to keep track of the information on the Internet. To give users a friendly, easy-to-use interface to work with, the University of Minnesota created its Gopher, a simple menu system for accessing files, in 1991.

 

Tim Berners-Lee: Father of the Web (Al Gore only invented it)

The World Wide Web came into being in 1991, thanks to developer Tim Berners-Lee and others at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, also known as Conseil Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN). The CERN team created the protocol based on hypertext that makes it possible to connect content on the Web with hyperlinks. Berners-Lee now directs the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a group of industry and university representatives that oversees the standards of Web technology.

Early on, the Internet was limited to noncommercial uses because its backbone was provided largely by the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. Department of Energy, and funding came from the government. But as independent networks began to spring up, users could access commercial Web sites without using the government-funded network. By the end of 1992, the first commercial online service provider, Delphi, offered full Internet access to its subscribers, and several other providers followed.

In June 1993, the Web boasted just 130 sites. By a year later, the number had risen to nearly 3,000. As of April 1998, there were more than 2.2 million sites on the Web.

Who's in Control Here?

No one authority controls the World Wide Web. Today's Web site authoring tools allow virtually anyone who has access to a computer and the Internet to post a Web site and contribute to the definition of what this medium is and what it can do. But the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) does oversee the development of Web technology.

 

You shape the Web

According to the developer of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, "The dream behind the Web is of a common information space in which we communicate by sharing information. Its universality is essential: the fact that a hypertext link can point to anything, be it personal, local, or global, be it draft or highly polished."

 With the development of tools that allow us to create Web sites without having any knowledge of hypertext markup language (HTML), this dream is being realized. If you read the "Creating a Web Site" chapter, you can be one of the forces shaping this "common information space."

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

Keeping an eye on the standards of Web technology is W3C, formed by Berners-Lee in 1994. An international group of industry and university representatives, W3C promotes the Web by developing common protocols for transmitting information over the Internet. The consortium provides information, reference code, and prototype and sample applications to developers and users. It is hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Laboratory for Computer Science in the United States, the Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique in Europe, and the Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus in Japan.

Check out the World Wide Web Consortium Web site at http://www.w3.org

What Are Domains?

Domains divide World Wide Web sites into categories based on the nature of their owner, and they form part of a site's address, or uniform resource locator (URL). Common top-level domains are:

 •.com-For commercial enterprises. •.org-For nonprofit organizations. •.net-For networks. •.edu-For educational institutions. •.gov-For government organizations. •.mil-For military services. •.int-For organizations established by international treaty. There are new extensions it seems daily.  .tv, .biz, .tt just to name a few.  Most countries have their own extension as well.  A list of current extensions can be found here.  And here.  Additionally, new international names utilizing alternative alphabets will be used as of 3rd qtr 2009.  The W3C manages international and domestic domain names.

Additional three-letter and four-letter top-level domains have been proposed, and some are likely to be implemented. Each country linked to the Web has a two-letter top-level domain.

Read "Getting a Domain, or Web Presence" in the Internet Guide chapter "Creating a Web Site."

Visit the Web site of InterNIC, an organization that administers common domain names.

Get more details about domains through the Generic Top Level Domain Memorandum of Understanding Web site.

To learn more about the Web, visit the World Wide Web Consortium Web site.

 

Browsing Basics

Once you get connected to the Internet, you need to know how to find the Web sites and newsgroups that interest you. You may find, as many people do, that its fun just to wander—or surf—from site to site, going wherever the links take you. But if you want to find something specific and find it as soon as possible, you need to use a search engine. Here are the basics of searching:

Search engines:

·        Finding the needle in the haystack

A search engine is a service that indexes, organizes, and often rates and reviews Web sites. It helps you find the needle-that one Web site you've got to see-in the Internet haystack. Different search engines work in different ways.

•Some rely on people to maintain a catalog of Web sites or pages.

•Some use software to identify key information on sites across the Internet.

•Some combine both types of service.

So when you search their "holdings," you're bound to get different results.

Which one should I use?

No search engine keeps track of all the content on the Internet. Even the major search engines such as Google, Infoseek, Lycos, and Yahoo!—won't give you everything. (Some studies indicate that even the top search engines find less than half of what's really out there!) You can try several major search engines by visiting an all-in-one search site, such as the all-in-one search site accessible through Microsoft's home page.

 Here's a quick introduction to some of the major search engines:

Google - The world's most popular search engine.

 

Bing Search: Microsoft's entry into the burgeoning search engine market. Better late than never.

Yahoo! Search: The 2nd largest search engine on the web (as defined by a September 2007 Nielsen Netratings report.

AltaVista: Launched in 1995, built by researchers at Digital Equipment Corporation's Western Research Laboratory. From 1996 powered Yahoo! Search, since 2003 - Yahoo technology powers AltaVista.

Cuil: Cuil is a search engine website (pronounced as Cool) developed by a team of ex-Googlers and others from Altavista and IBM. Cuil, termed as the 'Google Killer' was launched in July, 2008 and claims to be world’s largest search engine, indexing three times as many pages as Google and ten times that of MS.

Excite: Now an Internet portal, was once one of the most recognized brands on the Internet. One of the famous 90's dotcoms.

Go.com: The Walt Disney Group's search engine is now also an entire portal. Family-friendly!

HotBot was one of the early Internet search engines (since 1996) launched by Wired Magazine. Now, just a front end for Ask.com and MSN.

AllTheWeb: Search tool owned by Yahoo and using its database, but presenting results differently.

Galaxy: More of a directory than a search engine. Launched in 1994, Galaxy was the first searchable Internet directory. Part of the Einet division at the MCC Research Consortium at the University of Texas, Austin

search.aol: Now powered by Google. It is now official.

Live Search (formerly Windows Live Search and MSN Search) Microsoft's web search engine, designed to compete with Google and Yahoo!. Included as part of the Internet Explorer web browser.

Lycos: Initial focus was broadband entertainment content, still a top 5 Internet portal and the 13th largest online property according to Media Metrix.

GigaBlast was developed by an ex-programmer from Infoseek. Gigablast supports nested boolean search logic using parenthesis and infix notation. A unique search engine, it indexes over 10 billion web pages.

Alexa Internet: A subsidiary of Amazon known more for providing website traffic information. Search was provided by Google, then Live Search, now in-house applications run their own search

Major search sites generally provide more than a search engine for finding Web sites. They also allow you to look up information such as recent news stories, newsgroup postings, reference material (such as dictionary entries and maps), and e-mail addresses, street addresses, and telephone numbers of business and individuals.

Here are two guidelines for picking a search engine:

If you're looking for a broad, common topic, such as how to buy a personal computer, use a search engine that tends to give you fewer results of higher quality (usually the type that relies on people to catalog sites), such as Yahoo!

If you're looking for a rare topic, such as 19th-century Hungarian authors, use a site that may be less discriminate but yields more results (usually the type compiled by a software program), such as Excite.

 

What are Newsgroups:

Usenet newsgroups are Internet discussion groups on just about any topic you can imagine. (There are more than 50,000 newsgroups, and more are added all the time.) Do you suffer from migraines? Check out the newsgroup alt.support.headaches.migraine for support. Are you the owner of hunting dogs? Visit rec.hunting.dogs. Here are some more examples of newsgroups to give you an idea of the variety that's out there:

 •sci.physics.fusion

•soc.genealogy.hispanic

•biz.jobs.offered

•rec.arts.animation

•alt.autos.antique

 And, of course, there are plenty of newsgroups about computing.

 The Deja News search engine allows you to search millions of newsgroup messages to find a specific topic that interests you. It also allows you to post your own message in response to what you read. The Deja News site is a good place to learn more about newsgroups, in general, too.

Tips for searching

Whatever search engine you use, these tips will help you find what you're looking for.

General searching

·        Use more than one search engine.

No search engine indexes all Web sites and Web pages. So if your first search doesn't produce the results you wanted, try searching with at least one other searching engine.

·         Read the "About" page.

Many search engines have a link that leads to detailed information about how the search engine compiles and searches through information and how to get the best results from it. Reading this page can save you a lot of time and headaches. Also, visit search engine home page links with names like "How To," "Search Help," and "Advanced Search" for searching tips.

 ·         Be specific.

The more specific your search word, the more targeted your search results will be. If you search for the words Labrador retriever, for example, rather than the word dog, your search will yield fewer sites, but they will be targeted to the type of dog that interests you. 

·         Be General

If your search word is too specific, your search may yield few or no results. To get more results, try searching for a related word that is more general.

 

·         Be Boolean

The major search engines let you select whether to search for the exact phrase you typed, all the words in the phrase but not necessarily together, any of the words in a phrase, and so on. A few search engines do not give you such options. In this case, you can define the search yourself by adding one or more words or symbols to your search topic.

 •AND. To search for two (or more) terms on the same page: Type the word AND between the terms. (Example: sea AND kayak.) Or put a plus sign right before the second term. (Example: sea +kayak.) •OR. To search for either of two (or more) terms on the same page: Type the word OR between the terms. (Example: kayak OR canoe.) •AND NOT. To search for pages that include the first term and not the second: Type the words AND NOT between the terms. (Example: kayak AND NOT whitewater.) Or put a minus sign right before the second term. (Example: kayak -whitewater.) •"". To search for an exact phrase: Enclose the phrase in quotation marks. (Example: "sea kayak rental".) •(  ). To group parts of your search: Enclose them in parentheses. (Example: kayak AND (gear OR equipment). This returns pages with both the words kayak and gear or with both the words kayak and equipment.) •*. To search for various forms of a word: Add an asterisk to the end of the word. (Example: kayak*. This returns pages with the words kayak, kayaks, kayaked, kayaking, and so on.)

·        Use quote marks, + and - signs

To narrow a search you can sometimes use quotation marks around phrases to get specific results.  An example is when you are looking for computer training, you will get results that include all topics on computers and all topics on training.  By including quotation ,arks around the phrase, you tell the search engine you only want the complete phrase in the search.  A + sign in front of a term will retrieve only documents containing that term and conversely a minus (-) sign will exclude the term.  For example:

Computer training +Video - CBT

This will retrieve all articles on computer training on video with and exclude any computer based training (CBT).

 

Search the Internet with a search engine

1.      On the toolbar, click the Search button.

2.      In the Search bar that appears in the left pane of your Internet Explorer window, choose your preferred search engine from the drop-down list in the box labeled Select provider.

3.      Depending on the search engine you've chosen, you may now have some options for configuring your search. Make your selections, or accept the default selections.

4.      In the appropriate text box, type the word or phrase you're looking for, and then click Search, Submit, or Go Get It, depending on the search engine.

5.      The search results appear in the list within the Search bar. Click on any link to open the associated Web page in the right pane of your Internet Explorer window.

6.      Any time you want to pursue another link from the search results, click it. The new Web page will open in the right pane.

7.      To hide the Search bar, click the Search button on the toolbar again.

Search the Internet from the Address bar

1.      In the Address bar, type go, find, or ? followed by a space and the word or phrase you want to find. For example, type Go Labrador retriever.

2.      In the list of search results, click a link to display the Web page.

Search for text on the current Web page

1.      On the Edit menu, click Find (on this page).

2.      Type the text you want to find.

3.      Change any settings as needed.

4.      Click Find Next.

 

Find a Web site when a URL doesn't work

If the URL, or Web address, that you type in the Address bar or click on a Web page doesn't work, try this to correct the address:

1.      On the View menu, click Internet Options.

2.      Click the Advanced tab.

3.      Scroll to Searching. Under Search when URL fails:

·        If you want Internet Explorer to ask if you want it to search for a similar address, click Always ask.

·        If you want The Internet browser to search without asking first, click Always search. If you don't want The Internet browser to search for a similar address, click Never search.

4.If you want The Internet browser to search for the address using a different domain, select the Autoscan common root domains check box under Searching. (A domain is specified by the three-letter extension—such as .org, .edu, .com, and .gov-in the address. It tells you a site's type. If you select the Autoscan common root domains option, The Internet browser will check the root of your URL with other domain extensions.)

5.Click OK.

What's in a Web browser?

A Web browser contains the basic software you need in order to find, retrieve, view, and send information over the Internet. This includes software that lets you:

•Send and receive electronic-mail, or e-mail, messages worldwide nearly instantaneously. •Read messages from newsgroups, forums about thousands of topics in which users share information and opinions. •Browse the World Wide Web (or Web) where you can find a rich variety of text, graphics, and interactive information.

 Browsers such as Microsoft® Internet Explorer or Netscape include additional Internet-related software. Toolbar

The Internet Explorer toolbar consists of buttons that are shortcuts for menu commands. They make browsing faster and easier. Click any btton on the toolbar below to find out its function.

•  Back. Lets you return to pages you've viewed, beginning with the most recent. With Microsoft Internet Explorerversion 4.0, right-click the Back button, and select from a list of recently visited sites.

•  Forward. Lets you move forward through pages you've viewed using the Back button. With Internet Explorer 4.0, right click the Forward button, and select from a list of recently visited sites.

•  Stop. Halts the process of downloading a Web page. Click this if you want to stop downloading a page for any reason-if you're having trouble downloading it, for example, or if you don't want to wait for it to download. Then try downloading it again or browse elsewhere.

•  Refresh. Updates any Web page stored in your disk cache with the latest content. (When you return to a page you've visited, your browser displays the file stored in your disk cache, rather than the current page on the World Wide Web. This saves download time.)

•  Home. Returns you to your home page. You can designate any Web page as your home page.

•  Search. Displays a choice of popular Internet search engines in the left pane. Your search results appear in the left pane, too. When you click a link, the page appears in the right pane, so you don't lose sight of your search results.

•  Favorites. Displays a list of the sites (and, with Internet Explorer 4.0, the folders, files, and servers) that you've saved as Favorites. Click on any item in the list to jump to it.

•  Print. Prints the page you're viewing. This is one way to save information from the Internet so that you don't have to reconnect to view it again. You can even print the URL associated with each hyperlink, making it easy to navigate to the site later.

•  Font. Lets you display text in a larger or smaller font with Internet Explorer 4.0.

•  Mail. Connects you to Microsoft Outlook™ Express messaging and collaboration client so you can read e-mail and newsgroup messages.

•  Edit. Opens a file in Microsoft Word word processor that contains the HTML code for the page you're viewing so you can see and even edit it.
  
   

What is a URL?

A URL, or uniform resource locator, is the address of an Internet file. Usually it consists of four parts: protocol, server (or domain), path, and file name. Sometimes there's no path or file name. Here's an example:

http is the protocol. •www.microsoft.com is the server, or domain. •magazine/tips is the path.

Browser tips

Take advantage of all the great features of Microsoft® Internet Explorer. These tips will help.

Spot the links

You can tell whether an item on a page is a link by moving the mouse pointer over the item. If the pointer changes to a hand, the item is a link. A link can be a picture, a three-dimensional image, or colored text (usually underlined). Click any link on a Web page to go to another page within that site or another site.

To display Web pages faster:

1.On the View menu in the browser, click Internet Options. 2.Click the Advanced tab. 3.In the Multimedia area, clear one or more of the Show pictures, Play animations, Play videos, or Play sounds check boxes. 4.If the Show pictures or Play videos check box is cleared, you can still display an individual picture or animation on a Web page by right-clicking its icon and then clicking Show Picture. 5.If the pictures on the current page are still visible after you clear the Show pictures check box, you can hide them by clicking the View menu and then clicking Refresh.

Display previously viewed pages faster

To display previously viewed pages faster:

1. On the View menu in the browser, click Internet Options.

2. On the General tab, click Settings.

3. To create more space to store pages temporarily, move the slider to the right.

4. To prevent Internet Explorer from updating pages in the Temporary Internet Files folder, click Never.
   
    

Change how page colors are displayed

To change how page colors are displayed:

1. On the View menu in the browser, click Internet Options.

2. Change the settings as needed.

Display text in a different font

To display text in a different font:

1. On the View menu in the browser, click Internet Options.

2. On the General tab, click Fonts.

3. In the Proportional and Fixed-width font lists, click the fonts you want.

Specify which font and color setting to always use

To specify which font and color settings to always use:

1. On the View menu in the browser, click Internet Options.

2. On the General tab, click Accessibility.

3. Change the settings as needed.

Display text larger or smaller

To display text larger or smaller:

On the View menu, point to Fonts, and then click the size you want.

View Web pages in a different language

Some Web sites offer their content in several languages. You can add languages to your list of languages in Internet Explorer, so that you can view these sites in your preferred language.

 To view Web pages written in a different language:

1.      On the View menu in the browser, click Internet Options.

2.      On the General tab, click Languages.

3.      Click Add.

4.      Select the language you want to add.

If you speak several languages, you can arrange them in order of priority. If a Web site offers multiple languages, it will supply content in the language with the highest priority.  Adding languages does not guarantee that you have a font that can display Web pages in your preferred languages. You may need to download a Multilanguage support pack to display pages in this language.

Add a page to your Favorites

To add a page to your collection of favorite pages:

1. Go to the page you want to add to your collection of favorite pages.

2. On the Favorites menu, click Add to Favorites.

3. Type a new name for the page if you want to.

To open one of your favorite pages, click the Favorites button on the toolbar, and then click the page you want to open.

To keep track of your favorite ages, you can organize them into folders. Click the Create In button in the Add to Favorites dialog box.

 

Add Personal Computing to your Favorites

To make sure you always have access to the latest Internet news, software updates, and tips and tricks for using Internet Explorer, why not add the Personal Computing site to your Favorites list now?

To add the Personal Computing site to your Favorites list, follow these steps:

1.      On the File menu of your Internet Explorer toolbar, point to New, and click Window, so you don't lose your place in this guide.

2.      Under the File menu in the new window, click Open, and then type http://www.microsoft.com/magazine/ in the address box.

3.      Click OK.

4.      When the Personal Computing page has finished loading, on the Favorites menu, click Add to Favorites, and click OK.

5.      Close the new window.

Organize your Favorites into folders

To organize your favorite pages into folders:

1.      On the Favorites menu, click Organize Favorites.

2.      Click Create New Folder, type a name for the folder, and then press ENTER.

3.      Drag the shortcuts in the list to the appropriate folders.

You might want to organize your pages by topic. For example, you could create a folder named Art for storing information about art exhibits and reviews.  If the number of shortcuts or folders makes ragging impractical, you can use the Move button instead.

Change your home page

To change your home page:

1.      Go to the page you want to appear when you first start Internet Explorer.

2.      On the View menu, click Internet Options.

3.      Click the General tab.

4.      In the Home page area, click Use Current.

To restore your original home page, click Use Default.

 Save text and graphics from the Web

When you see text or graphics on a Web page that you like or want to refer to later, you can save them on your computer's hard disk. Later, you can open the saved file and review it offline.

 To save a text or source file:

1.On the toolbar, click File, and then click Save As.

2.Click Save to save the file.

 

To save a graphic

1. Right-click the graphic.

2. On the shortcut menu that appears, click Save Picture As.

3. Browse to the folder where you would like to save the file.

4. Click Save to save the file.

 To open a saved file, double-click it from the folder where you've saved it. Microsoft Internet Explorer will start automatically, and your saved file will appear in the browser window.

Add a page to your Links bar

To add a page to your Links bar:

1.      Drag the icon for the page from your Address bar to your Links bar.

2.      Drag a link from a Web page to your Links bar.

3.      Drag a link to the Links folder in your Favorites list: You can either drag it directly to the Favorites menu and then into the Links folder or you can drag it to the Links folder when displaying your Favorites in the Explorer bar.

You can also can organize your links by dragging them to a different location on the Links bar.

Create a desktop shortcut to the current page

Right-click in the page, and then click Create Shortcut.  If the Internet Explorer window is not maximized, you can also create a shortcut by dragging a link from the Internet Explorer window to the location you want, such as your desktop or a folder.

Return to a Web page you've already seen

There are several ways to return to a previously viewed Web page:

 ·        To return to the last page you viewed, you can click the Back button on the toolbar, or press the BACKSPACE key.

·        To see a list of the last few pages you visited, click the small down arrow beside the Back or Forward button. Then click the page you want.

·        If you want to view one of the last five pages you visited in this session, click the File menu, and then on the list, click the page that you want to go to. This list is started fresh every time you start Internet Explorer.

·        To view more pages, including pages you visited in previous sessions, click the History button on the toolbar, and then click the appropriate folder.

 

Change the appearance of the toolbar

To change the appearance of the toolbar:

 ·        You can move or resize the Address bar or Links bar by dragging them up, down, left, or right. You can even move them into the menu bar.

·        To make more room on your screen, you can hide toolbar button labels. Just right-click the toolbar, and then clear the check mark next to Text Labels.

·        You can hide the Address bar or Links section of the toolbar by right-clicking the toolbar and then clearing the check mark for each item you want to hide.

·        You can add items to the Links bar by dragging the icon from the Address bar or dragging a link from a page.

·        You can rearrange items on the Links bar by dragging them to a new location on the bar.

·        You can use smaller Microsoft Office-style toolbar buttons. On the View menu in a browser window, click Internet Options, and then click the Advanced tab. In the Toolbar area, select the Small icons check box.

The cache and toolbar

Cache

When you explore the Web, your browser keeps track of the pages you've visited and saves them on your hard disk so they'll load faster when you return them. This saves you time and money because you can view the saved pages without being connected to the Internet. The saved files—your "temporary Internet files"—are stored in your disk cache.

How to clear browser cache

Running out of disk space? Can't stop your browser from loading an out-of-date page or an image? Your browser taking longer to exit? Your favorite Java applet is misbehaving? One of the answers to all of the above questions may be to clear your browser's cache. Almost all web browsers maintain a local copy of web pages and other related items on your disk or memory to speedup reloading of previously visited pages from the Internet. This time saver may get bigger and slower over long periods of time. If this is causing problems, try clearing your browser cache as follows.

TIP: Although it's not required by all browsers, restarting your browser after clearing the cache is a good idea. If you're using Explorer 4.x or Explorer 5.x it's better to restart the computer as well.

Navigator 3.x:

•Select "Options | Network Preferences..." from the main menu
•Change to the "Cache" tab
•Click on "Clear Memory Cache Now" and "Clear Disk Cache Now" buttons to clear memory and disk cache

Communicator 4.x:

•Select "Edit | Preferences..." from the main menu
•Change to the "Advanced | Cache" section
•Click on "Clear Memory Cache" and "Clear Disk Cache" buttons to clear memory and disk cache
     TIP: Navigator 3.x and Communicator 4.x users: If you're often having to reload frequently updated pages, you may want to take this chance to set "Verify Documents" option to "Every Time." This will make the browser retrieve the latest copy of a web page even if it's in the cache.

 Explorer 3.x:

•Select "View | Options..." from the main menu
•Change to the "Advanced" tab
•Click on "Settings" button
•Click on "Empty Folder..."
     TIP: If you're running out of hard disk space, you could reduce percent of disk space used by Explorer 3.x for its cache by sliding the "Amount of disk space to use" gauge.

Explorer 4.x:

•Select "View | Internet Options..." from the main menu
•Change to the "General" tab
•Click on "Delete Files" button
     TIP: If you have Explorer 4.x Active Channel subscriptions, check "Delete all subscription content" to delete cached channel content as well.

Explorer 5.x:

•Select "Tools | Internet Options..." from the main menu
•Change to the "General" tab
•Click on "Delete Files" button
     TIP: If you have stored web pages for offline viewing, check "Delete all offline content"

America Online 3.x (with Explorer 3.x):

•Select "Members | Preferences" from the main menu
•Click on the "WWW" button
•Click on "Advanced..."
•Click on "Purge Cache" to clear the cache
     TIP: Be sure to check "Cache web pages and graphics locally" (which should be enabled by default) to speedup surfing.

America Online 4.x:

•Select "My AOL | Preferences" from the main menu
•Click on the "WWW" button
•Change to the "General" tab
•Click on "Delete Files" button
     TIP: If you have Explorer 4.x Active Channel subscriptions, check "Delete all subscription content" to delete cached channel content as well. If you have stored web pages for offline viewing, check "Delete all offline content"

 

What is HTML?

HTML, or hypertext markup language, is a programming language used to build Web sites. It contains standard codes, or tags, that determine how a Web page looks when your browser displays it. HTML tags also make possible the hyperlinks that connect information on the World Wide Web.

 Why do some Web pages take so long to download?

 Many factors affect how fast a Web page travels from its Web site to your computer. Web pages may load slowly for these reasons:

·        Your modem ( if you are still using a modem) transmits data slowly.

·        Traffic on the Internet is heavy.

·        The page's file is large. It contains graphic, sound, or video files, for example, in addition to text.

·        The server and connecting lines used by your online service, your Internet service provider, or the Web site transmit data slowly.

To decrease download time, try these pointers:

·        Get the latest version of your browser.

·        Use DSL or cable.

·        Browse during off-peak hours.

·        Turn off sound and images in your browser. Text-only pages load faster.

·        If a page is loading so slowly that you think it may be stuck, click the Stop button on your browser's toolbar, and try to load the page again in a few seconds.

 What is FTP, and what does it have to do with downloading?

FTP is short for "file transfer protocol." It's a system of rules for communicating over the Internet, and it allows you to transfer files to and download files from other computers. A browser such as Microsoft® Internet Explorer contains the tools you need to handle FTPs. So with Internet Explorer, you can download any file available on the Internet.

 

Choosing an Internet Service Provider

An Internet Service Provider (ISP) gives you the telephone access and software you need to connect to the Internet, along with some technical help. Many ISPs also include an electronic-mail account, host customers' Web pages, and offer services to companies that do business on the Internet. You can choose from local or national ISPs.

What about online service providers?

An online service provider, can connect you to the Internet, too, and provide technical support. Online service providers also offer special features and content. For an online service provider's home page may provide links to many useful Internet sites-such as a city guide site or sites about investing, buying a car, or getting started on the Internet-in addition to access to your e-mail, the World Wide Web, and newsgroups. Online service providers tend to offer service nationwide, which is why they can afford to provide extras to their customers.

Consider these factors

To identify ISPs and online service providers in your area, look under "Internet products and services" or a similar topic in your local yellow pages, or search for them online through Microsoft's all-in-one search site. Then call their customer service number and ask the representative about these aspects of their service.

 Dialing in. Does the ISP or online service provider offer service through a telephone number in your area? Does it offer a local telephone number or toll-free number in areas you expect to travel to?

 Access. How often will you actually get through, rather than get a busy signal, when you dial in? (Don't just rely on a customer service representative for this information. Try calling the connection number several times at different times of the day, and see what results you get.)

 Technical support and customer service. Are there knowledgeable, friendly technical support and customer service people available whenever you need them? Is the telephone call toll-free? How long will you have to wait on hold? Can you get technical support and customer service online?

 E-mail. Does the service provide an e-mail account, and can you access your account through another ISP if you're outside a local ISP's area?

 Web pages. Can you post a Web site on the ISP's server? How much space can you get for your page and at what cost? Will you be charged based on the amount of traffic your page gets? Will the server support CGI scripting (necessary if your page includes a form)?

 Performance. How quickly does the service deliver your e-mail? (The industry average time is within 5 minutes 95 percent of the time.) How long does it take for Web pages to download? (The average is just over 40 seconds for popular consumer pages.) How often does the service experience failures and for how long?

 Upgrades. Can you upgrade to a faster service?

Price. Many services offer different monthly subscriptions, including unlimited access for a flat monthly fee and limited hours for a flat monthly fee with additional hours, as needed, for an extra charge. When you compare ISP and online service provider prices, consider the factors above as well as the special features and content that the online service providers offer.

WebTV

When you hook up the WebTV® Plus system to your regular television set, you can surf the Internet, watch traditional TV programs, do both at the same time, or watch enhanced programs right on your TV. (Enhanced TV programs allow you to link to more information about whatever you're watching-such as a baseball player's statistics or a biography of a show's star.)

By bringing you both the Internet and television programming, WebTV unlocks new worlds of entertainment and learning. Just put the receiver on top of your TV and connect the two. The receiver includes a 3D graphics engine, a 3-in-1 stereo tuner, a 1.1 gigabyte internal hard drive, and the capability to print the Internet content you find. You can even store information to view later. And it's easy to switch between a Web site and television.

Several companies already offer Internet access via TV. WebTV Networks, Inc., a leading developer of Net-television technology, offers subscribers a Web connection, newsgroup access, e-mail accounts for up to six people, and WebTV Plus.

 

Cybercafés

If you don't have regular access to a computer at home, or if you just feel like being social, visit a cybercafé, or Internet café. These establishments, which provide (for a fee) computer and Internet access to customers, along with coffee, other refreshments, and food, have been springing up all over the country in the past few years.

Free Internet access at libraries

If you don't have Internet access at home, check with your local library to find out whether it provides personal computers and Internet access for public use. Many provide these, along with instruction on how to access the Internet, free to visitors with a library card.

Closing the gap

Low-income families are far less likely than their higher-income neighbors to have access to the Internet on a home computer-at a time when computer literacy is more important than ever. Thanks to the nation's libraries, Microsoft, and the Gates Library Foundation (created by Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda), this gap is starting to close.

Libraries Online!

Microsoft teamed up with the American Library Association and the Technology Resource Institute from 1995 to 1997 to make computers and the Internet more accessible through a program called Libraries Online! The program provided grants, training, and technical assistance to libraries across the United States, Canada, and Ireland, to help them give the public access to computers and the Internet and to provide some of their services online, too. (Try searching the Internet to see whether your library has its own Web site.)

WiMAX 

Some municipalities are offering their residents Internet access as part of their suite of services.

 

All About E-Mail

 Electronic mail (e-mail) gives you a fast, cheap way to send information all over the world and to receive information through your very own e-mail mailbox, or "inbox." It can take the place of telephone calls, faxes, courier shipments, and traditional letter mail. Use it to keep in touch with friends, family, and business contacts. More than 80 million people worldwide already do. Here's how.

Basics of sending and receiving

 To send and receive electronic-mail messages, or e-mail, over the Internet, and to organize your messages, you need an e-mail account. You can get this through an Internet service provider or online service provider. You also need an e-mail client—e-mail software for your computer. Your e-mail client creates an Inbox on your computer. When you check your e-mail, new messages are downloaded into your Inbox.

Pick an e-mail program

Here are some examples of e-mail clients:

 Microsoft® Outlook™  a messaging and collaboration client; provides advanced e-mail, calendar, and contact management and a platform for workgroup information sharing when used with Microsoft Exchange Server. You can download Outlook for free from the Microsoft.  Visit the How to Get Outlook page. UPDATE - with the advent of Office 2007, you can only get Outlook with the office suite.  For instructions on setting up Outlook see the article on our website at; http://tkc.org/content/computing/setting%20up%20email%20in%20outlook.htm

 Hotmail— the world's leading provider of free e-mail (it's supported by advertising). Because it is Web-based, everything you need to use Hotmail resides on the Internet, rather than your computer. So you can use Hotmail on any computer that has access to the Internet. If you travel, move, or change your Internet service provider, your Hotmail e-mail address and service stay the same.

 Microsoft Outlook Express— designed for users who need fast, reliable e-mail and newsgroup functionality without the full capabilities of Outlook. Outlook Express is included in the Microsoft Windows® 98 operating system and is especially easy to use if you're using Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0 Web browser.

 Microsoft Exchange— automatically included in the Microsoft Windows operating system

A little terminology

There are many acronyms associated with e-mail. Here are some that you may come across:

 SMTP— Simple Mail Transport Protocol, the standard rules that many e-mail clients use to handle outgoing e-mail messages.

 POP3— Post Office Protocol version 3, the standard rules that many e-mail clients use to handle incoming e-mail messages.

 IMAP—The Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) is one of the two most prevalent Internet standard protocols for e-mail retrieval, the other being the Post Office Protocol (POP).[1] Virtually all modern e-mail clients and mail servers support both protocols as a means of transferring e-mail messages from a server, such as those used by Gmail,[2] to a client, such as Mozilla Thunderbird, KMail, Apple Mail and Microsoft Outlook.

E-mail clients built on standards like SMTP and POP3 can share information with each other, so we don't all need to use the same e-mail client. To set up your e-mail client, you may need to know your SMTP server address and your POP3 server address. If so, your Internet service provider (ISP) can give you this information. Some e-mail clients use programs called wizards to help you get set up.

 MIME— Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, a format for turning an e-mail attachment, such as a Microsoft Word file, into ASCII text so it can be sent from one e-mail account to another.

 

 Anatomy of an e-mail address

To send a message to someone, you must type his or her e-mail address in the "To" section of your e-mail message. Generally, there are two parts to an e-mail address: Your logon identity and the identity of your ISP. These are separated by the symbol @. A typical e-mail address for someone who uses Hotmail, for example, looks like this: yourname@hotmail.com

 The extension—.com—indicates that MSN in a commercial establishment. Other common extensions are .gov (for government users) and .edu (for educational users). E-mail addresses outside of the United States may also include letters that indicate the country of the user's ISP.

 What about attachments?

 You can send more than simple text in your electronic-mail messages. You can also attach computer documents—including word-processor, spreadsheet, graphic, and video files—to an e-mail message. So e-mail is a useful way to share files that more than one person wants or needs.

 With Microsoft® Outlook™, e-mail gets even more sophisticated. Outlook 98 allows you to send messages on HTML "stationery," which contains background graphics and special, preselected font designs and colors to match.

 Special notes

The person who receives your e-mail with an attachment can open the attachment if he or she has the program in which the attachment was created. •If the recipient does not have the program you used to create your attachment, he or she may be able to get the appropriate viewer, such as Microsoft® Word viewer or Microsoft PowerPoint® viewer. A viewer contains the components of a program needed to display a file created with the full version of the program. •To send an attachment, your e-mail client converts the attachment's digital code into ASCII text, using a format such as uuencode or MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions). In order for the recipient to read the attachment, the recipient's e-mail client must be able to decode this format, or he or she must have another program that can decode it.

 The scoop on newsgroups

 If your e-mail client is also a newsreader, you can use it to subscribe to, read messages from, and post messages to newsgroups, online discussions on practically any topic. Microsoft® Internet Explorer version 4.0 makes newsgroup access easy, too. On the Go menu, simply select News. The Internet browser automatically launches Outlook Express and opens your newsgroups folder so you can get down to business.

 Here are some newsgroup basics:

 •Each newsgroup covers a particular topic, often alluded to in its name. •A newsgroup is really a discussion string comprised of a series of related messages. Each message responds to an earlier message or addresses the overall newsgroup topic in some way. You can post your own message in response to the messages that interest you most. •You can find newsgroups that may interest you by searching for them through the Deja News Web site. •Together, newsgroups make up Usenet, which you can think of as part of the Internet.

 Before you join in:

 •Read a newsgroup's FAQ, or frequently asked questions, file first to learn more about the group. (Almost all newsgroups have a FAQ.) •Check whether the newsgroup has a file containing its charter and rules. If it does, read this before you post messages. •Read a good portion of a discussion string before joining in. Others in the discussion will appreciate that you took the time to get familiar with the conversation first.

 The Deja News Web site is a good place to learn more about newsgroups, and it provides a way for you to search newsgroups for those that interest you.

 ZDNet's "Usenet 101" article covers newsgroup basics.

 Find It on the Internet

 The Internet is a worldwide network of computers that allows you to send and receive information practically instantly. You'll be amazed at what you can find on the Internet with just a little bit of surfing. Whatever you can think to look for, someone else has probably thought to provide. Here's your guide to what the Internet carries.

 What's on the Web?

 The World Wide Web is home to millions of Web sites, set up by businesses, agencies, institutions, individuals, and others. You name it, it's probably somewhere on the Web. Ever heard of a narwhal? It's a whale that sports a long horn on its forehead and lives in the Arctic ocean-and, yes, it's the subject of multiple sites on the Web. Here's a guide to some of the slightly less obscure Web information that you might want to explore.

 

 Shopping on the web

Shop and buy instantly on the Web at the sites of individual companies or through mall-like sites that connect you to thousands of "stores." Such sites allow you to browse through products and services and even order and pay for them online. Here are some sites you might want to try.

 •From The Microsoft Plaza, you can connect to merchants in numerous categories, including books and music, clothes and accessories, computers and electronics, and home and garden. •At Amazon.com, you can browse or search through millions of titles for a book that suits you and then purchase it online. The site also includes book reviews, interviews with authors, articles about the book world, and more. Amazon.com sells sheet music, CDs, and audio books, too. •If you're into music, check out CDNow. Search for a CD by artist, title, song title, record label, or soundtrack. Or browse through categories including rock/pop, world/new age, classical, and others. •To find shopping sites, search for the name of your favorite companies, products, or stores, or just search for the word "shopping," and peruse the results. •You can use directories, such as the All-Internet Shopping Directory, to locate online buying opportunities. •Try visiting the Internet Mall, a site that links you to 27,000 stores and brand names, selling products from computers, to flowers, to dental services. •For official Microsoft-licensed merchandise—from desktop accessories to sportswear—go to the Microsoft Logo Store.

Banking and investing

The Internet is full of information and services related to banking and investing, from general advice about planning for retirement to up-to-the-minute stock prices. Plus, more and more banks are offering their customers online access to their bank accounts. You can also manage your own stock portfolio online. (See the Internet Guide chapter Online Banking and Investing.)

 •For an introduction to the financial services available on the Internet, read Personal Computing's feature story "Online Banking and Investing: It's Safe and Easy." •On the Microsoft® Investor Web site, you can read feature articles about investing, as well as research, track, find, and trade stocks and mutual funds, and get a market report, updated three times a day. •Visit the Microsoft Money Insider™ Web site for guidance on virtually every aspect of money management, including saving, taxes, home buying, and retirement planning. The sites offers informative articles, practical tools, useful resources, and more. •Find out about Microsoft Money 98 Financial Suite personal financial management software at the Money 98 Web site. Money 98 Financial Suite provides complete planning and tracking tools, personalized guidance, and online information, integrated in one resource. •To learn some of the basics of investing, visit the Web site of the Association of Individual Investors, too.

News

No need to wait for the morning paper to find out what's happening in the world. Many news sites on the Web are updated repeatedly throughout the day. So you can get the latest on world events, sports, weather, and more, whenever you want it.

 •MSNBC, the most popular news site on the Web, brings you the latest national and international news, weather, business and sports news, and more. You can even get local news by identifying your local affiliate. •For the latest information about weather around the world, turn to The Weather Channel. Besides getting the top weather stories, you can access current forecasts in many U.S. cities and view a variety of weather maps. •ESPN Sportszone, which provides in-depth coverage of a variety of sports, up-to-the-minute scores for ongoing games, and more, is another popular Web site. •At home.microsoft.com, you can even customize the news, weather and stock quotes you want to see. Once you select your preferences, subsequent visits to the Web site deliver your customized content in the order you want it to appear. •The home page of your favorite search engine may have links to news articles. Click on the News link at Yahoo!, for example, and you get a list of detailed topics-such as top stories, business, politics, entertainment, and health-to choose from. These take you to story titles and summaries, which you can click to get the full story. •If you have a favorite newspaper, search for it on the Web. There are online versions of just about every major newspaper. The New York Times, for instance, publishes an online edition, which is updated throughout the day to include breaking news.

 

Reference

The Internet provides you with access to numerous reference materials, including the collections of many libraries, research facilities, museums, and similar institutions. You can find information as simple as the definition of a word and as complex as the latest in scientific research.

 •Microsoft Encarta® Online is an interactive encyclopedia full of information about cultures, events, discoveries, and more from all over the world. From the Encarta Online home page, you can search for any topic. •For hyperlinks to standard dictionaries, a dictionary of synonyms, a thesaurus, and other reference materials about the English language

Online Banking and Investing

 It's one of the wonders of the Internet: the ability to manage your finances-from one simple checking account to hundreds of complex investments-right from your own computer. It's safe, easy, and growing in popularity. Plus, the Internet is home to a rich array of financial information and guidance. Take a look.

Microsoft Investor and Microsoft Money Insider Web sites

 The Microsoft® Investor Web site and the Microsoft Money Insider® interactive financial guide on the World Wide Web give you the hard facts, seasoned advice, and practical tools you need to manage your finances online—even if you're new to both financial management and the Internet. You can use both sites for free. (Connect time charges may apply.)

 Microsoft Investor

Whether you're an experienced investor or just wondering how to get started, visit Microsoft Investor for the latest financial news, investing tips, and stock quotes. You can even customize the Investor home page to track only the stocks you want to see.

 Research, track, find, and trade

From the Investor home page, you can visit these areas of the site:

 •Research—Look into stocks and funds by typing their symbol (such as MSFT for Microsoft). You can get current quotes, historical charts, company facts, and more. You also can search for companies by name or industry if you don't know their symbol.

•Track—Use Portfolio Manager to track up to 5,000 securities in multiple portfolios. You can enter transactions manually, import them from Microsoft Money or Quicken, or download accounts from your broker. Portfolio Manager can even alert you to stock splits, late-breaking news, and more.

•Find Ideas—Browse through an index of articles by date, topic, and more. Visit Investor Academy to learn more about investing, from terminology to strategy. Check out the Strategy Lab to find out how the experts do things.

•Trade—Log in to online account traders (or open a new account) to conduct trades. Use a trader whose logo is shown, or customize the page to include other traders.

 Stay in touch with the market

Click Market Report on the Investor home page and get an overview, updated three times a day, of what's happening in the market. You also can look up the most active stocks and the largest percentage gainers and losers on the NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ indices. (Quotes supplied by Standard & Poor's ComStock, Inc. are delayed at least 20 minutes. NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ index data are provided in real time.)

 

 Free services versus subscription

You can visit the Investor Web site as often as you like and access these features for free: stock quotes, portfolio tracking, charting, market report, daily editorial, and filings of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 By subscribing to Investor for $9.95 per month, you get unlimited access to these services and more:

 •Advisor FYI™ personal financial guidance alerts—These bulletins are like having a 24-hour expert notifying you of important changes in your investments. Everything from a sharp rise in trading volume to a hike in your fund's expenses. •Investment Finder—Screen 16,000 stocks and funds using up to 500 criteria to find just the right ones for you. There are 20 preset stock and fund screens to get you started. •In-depth mutual fund reports—Learn everything from risk profiles to top 10 holdings to the past performance of managers in these reports from Morningstar and Value Line. •Strategy Lab—Find a long-term market strategy, and watch how it works by looking over the shoulders of six professional investment advisers managing portfolios online for Investor.

•Company earnings estimates—Get all the data you need (updated daily) to assess your current and proposed investments.

 •"Insider trading"—Learn whether company executives are buying or selling shares of your stock.

•Analyst recommendations—See how the pros are rating your stocks.

 Visit the Investor site to get a free, 30-day trial subscription. (Connect times charges may apply.)

Microsoft Money Insider

The Microsoft Money Insider Web site {provides guidance on virtually every aspect of money management, including saving, taxes, home buying, and retirement planning. The home page summarizes the site's latest feature articles. Just click any title for the full story.

 Check out these sections

From the Money Insider home page, you have access to these sections of the site:

 Practical advice and tools

Here are just two examples of the practical information you can find in these Money Insider sections:

 •Under Taking Charge, click Investing to get answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) such as "How can I get started investing?", "What investments are less risky?", and "How can I use my PC to manage my investments?" •Under Resources, click Tools to get access to more than 25 calculators, quizzes, and databases to help you make smart financial decisions. For instance, a savings calculator can help you determine how long it'll take you to achieve your savings goal.

 Resources galore

Money Insider offers these resources, too:  

•Answer Guide—Find the answers to your financial questions.

•Financial Advisers—Locate a financial expert who's right for you.

•Bank Rates—Find the latest and best local and national rates.

•Ask the Insiders—Get your questions answered by the experts.

•Discount Brokers—Find the discount broker who's best for you.

•Investor Market Update—Access reports on the mood of the market three times a day.

•Business—Read the latest news on business and technology.

Banks on the Web

 More and more banks across the United States (and around the world) are offering services to their customers over the Internet.

 What you can do;

Most banks with online services allow you to do the following:

 •Check your account balances.

•Transfer funds between your accounts.

•Pay your bills online.

 Some even let you:

 •Apply for loans.

•Download information about your accounts.

•Trade stocks or mutual funds electronically.

 

 The benefit: Convenience

For customers, online banking means convenience. You can bank online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Right now, the fees that banks charge for online services vary. Some charge nothing at all. In the log run, online banking should be less expensive than other forms of banking for banks and, in turn, for customers.

 Is your bank online?

Check with your bank to find out which online services it offers. (Some banks refer to online banking as "PC banking," "home banking, "electronic banking," or "Internet banking.") Even if your bank isn't online, you can use Microsoft® Money 98 Online Bill Payment to pay bills electronically, as long as your bank is in the United States.

 Why online banking is secure

 To protect your personal financial information and resources, online banking relies on encryption. This means that before your Web browser sends online banking information over the Internet, it turns that information into code. When the information reaches your bank's computers, it's decoded.

 So if anyone were to intercept your information while it's between you and your bank, the information would be completely unreadable. As long as you keep your online banking password private, no one else has access to your financial information. Ask your bank for details about the measures it takes to keep your transactions secure.

 You can maximize the security of your transactions using your Web browser. With Microsoft® Internet Explorer browser version 4.0, for example, you can do the following:

 •Look for a padlock icon in the bar along the bottom of your browser. It appears when you are connected to a secure site, one that employs encryption. •Set your browser's safety level to high. On the View menu, click Internet Options. Click the Security tab, select High, and click OK. •Select individual browser options that heighten security. For example, on the View menu, click Internet Options. Click the Advanced tab, scroll to Security, select "Warn if changing between secure and not secure mode," and click OK.

 For details on the security options of your browser, check its Help files.

Security zones

You can assign sites to one of four security zones-local intranet zone, trusted sites zone, Internet zone, or restricted sites zone—and determining the level of security you want for each zone. Select from high, medium, or low security, or customize dozens of aspects of the security level of each zone.

 The security features of Internet Explorer also let you do these things:

 •Block Web sites that contain language, nudity, sex, or violence that you consider inappropriate for the users of your computer. •Use Authenticode™ technology to verify whether software is safe before you download it. •Enable Java-based applets (mini-applications that can enhance your Web experience) for sites you trust and disable them for other sites.

 Shopping

How often do you hand your credit card to a waiter in a restaurant or give out your account number over the telephone when ordering products? Such actions probably pose a greater security risk than charging items online—at least from trusted Web sites.

 

Certificates

If you have doubts about providing your credit card number or other personal information to a company's Web site, check for the site's certificate. (With Microsoft® Internet Explorer version 4.0, on the File menu, click Properties and then click Certificates.) A Web site certificate is an online document that certifies the site's identity so you know your information is going where you intend it to go.

Weighing the risk

There is a chance that a thief could intercept your credit card number as it travels from your computer to the Web site's server, but it's a faint possibility. In fact, it's much more difficult to carry out such a scheme online than it is in the real world where your credit card number is printed on statements and receipts that are mailed, filed, or thrown away. Some sites may work with your browser to encrypt, or encode, your transaction information so that, if it's intercepted, it can't be read.

 Investing

Online banks and investment services use encryption to protect the information in your transactions. Before information leaves the Web site's server for your computer, or vice versa, it's turned into code. After it reaches the appropriate destination, it's decoded. While the information travels over the Internet—where it may be vulnerable to being intercepted by someone with malicious intentions-it's essentially gibberish.

Two levels of encryption

Servers and Web browsers use 40-bit or 128-bit encryption. With 40-bit encryption, there are many billions of possible keys to unlock the code for each unique transmission, and only one of them works. With 128-bit encryption, there are 300 billion trillion times as many possible keys as with 40-bit encryption.

 

How to check for encryption

Microsoft® Internet Explorer version 4.0 lets you know when encryption is in use by displaying a padlock icon along the bottom of the Internet Explorer window. Here's how you can find out a Web page's encryption level with Internet Explorer 4.0:  

1. Right-click on the page, click Properties, and then click Certificates.

2. In the Fields box, select Encryption type. In the Details box, information about the page's encryption will appear.

3. Click Close, and then click OK.

Viruses

To protect yourself from viruses on the Internet, don't download files from sources that you don't know are safe. Viruses are usually hidden in programs and activated when the programs run. They also can be attached to certain other types of executable files, such as special-action Web files and video files.

Heed the warning

Generally, when you're about to download a type of file that could contain a virus, your browser will display a warning and ask whether you want to open the file or save it to disk. If you're confident that the file comes from a trustworthy source, you may want to open it. If you're not sure, you may want to cancel your download.

Check the certificate

One way to verify the identity of a site is to check whether it has a Web site certificate naming the site's originator. With Microsoft® Internet Explorer version 4.0, you can check a Web page's certificate by right-clicking on the page, clicking Properties, and then clicking Certificates.

Use an antivirus program

There are many antivirus programs that can scan your computer for viruses, inoculate against known viruses, and maybe even repair damage caused by a virus. To get the benefit of such a program, make sure you run it as recommended (you may be able to schedule it to automatically scan your computer on a regular basis) and get updates to the program, which include information about new viruses.

Cookies

A cookie is a small amount of information stored on your computer by a Web site—information that your Web browser sends back to the site whenever you visit it again. Usually the cookie is designed to remind the site of information about you—such as your password for the site or the customized background color you chose-so that your browsing is simplified.

They're usually harmless

Cookies are common and usually harmless. They can't be used to take information about you or your computer that you have not provided. But they can be used by certain services to create a profile of your interests based on the sites you visit. Then advertisements on participating sites can be customized for you.

 

Controlling cookies

With most browsers, you can choose to be alerted whenever a server tries to give you a cookie:

 1.On the View menu, click Internet Options and then click the Advanced tab.

2.Scroll to Security.

3.Under Cookies, select Prompt before accepting cookies and click OK.

4.When alerted, you can refuse a cookie.

You can choose to prohibit all cookies up front:

1.On the View menu, click Internet Options and then click the Advanced tab.

2.Scroll to Security.

3.Under Cookies, select Disable all cookie use and click OK.

 To delete cookies from your system, using Windows® Explorer, go to C:\Windows\Cookies and delete any files there.

Privacy

Any Web site you visit can tell who and where your Internet service provider is, what site you were last at, what Web browser you're using, and what you do while you're at the site. By asking you to register, a site can collect additional information from you, such as your name, e-mail address, postal address, income level, and interests. It's up to you whether to provide this.

Are you listed?

If you're listed in the white pages of the telephone book, your name, address, and telephone number are probably in databases on the World Wide Web, available for others to search. For example, try looking yourself up in the Yahoo! White Pages or the InfoSpace directory. You may be able to find out if your name appears elsewhere by searching for your name using a search engine.

Take care with e-mail

Theoretically, the postmasters and system administrators who relay electronic-mail messages could read your e-mail if they wanted to. But so many e-mail messages are sent each day that it's unlikely any particular message would be read. Still, you should know that employers have the right to monitor e-mail you send using their computers, law enforcement authorities can monitor your e-mail under certain circumstances, and courts can require you to produce e-mail that relates to a court case. So it's a good idea not to say anything in e-mail that you wouldn't want to have to say in public.

 Newsgroups aren't private

Messages you post to Usenet newsgroups are available to anyone on the Internet, and they are archived and can be searched, so don't think of them as private. Also, spam e-mailers-those who send mass e-mail messages-sometimes pick up e-mail addresses from newsgroups.

Java

Java is a computer language. Java-based mini-applications, or applets, can be downloaded from Web sites and run by Web browsers. Generally, these applets are limited in what they can do. However, there are some Java-related bugs. To be safe, turn off Java in your Web browser except when you're at sites that you consider trustworthy.

 To disable Java with Internet Explorer 4.0:  

1.On the View menu, click Internet Options and then click the Security tab.

2.In the Zone drop-down list, select Internet Zone.

3.In the Internet Zone box, select Custom and then click Settings.

4.Scroll to Java, select Disable Java, click OK, and click OK again.

 

Certificates

Digital certificates, granted by certifying authorities, signify that a Web site or element of a Web site has been digitally signed by its creator. A certificate lets you know who is responsible for the site or element, and verifies that it is free from malicious components (such as viruses) and has not been tampered with since it was certified.

 When your browser is presented with a certificate, it checks its list of certifying authorities. If it finds a match, it allows your activity to continue. If your browser warns you that something is amiss about a certificate, your safest course is to cancel your activity.

Creating a Web Site

Thanks to today's Web authoring tools and all the Web authoring resources on the Internet, you can create a great-looking Web site without knowing any hypertext markup language (HTML) code. Of course, if you want to learn the technicalities of HTML, there are plenty of places for you to turn for information. This chapter will get you started.

Getting a Domain, or Web Presence

Before you can post a Web site to the World Wide Web, you need a unique address for the site. This address is your domain name. Microsoft's domain name, for example, is "microsoft.com," and the uniform resource locator (URL) for Microsoft's home page is http://www.microsoft.com

 Some Internet service providers set aside portions of their hard-disk space for subscribers' Web pages that require no domain registration. Check with your service provider to see if this is an option; it might be included in your monthly access fee.

What is InterNIC or ICANN?

To ensure each Web site has an address that no other site is using, domain names must be registered with the domain administrator. In most cases, this is InterNIC, now called ICANN. ICANN has relinquished control of the actual registration process which is now privatized (as of 1999).  ICANN administers domain names ending in .com (for commercial enterprises), .org (for nonprofit organizations), .net (for networks), .edu (for educational institutions), .gov (for government organizations), and .mil (for military services). ICANN was established to account for the global nature of the Internet.  There are now many registrars and all provide the same service.  A list of accredited registrars can be found here. 

 

How to register

You can search domain names to find out whether the name you want is taken and can register a domain name through any ICANN approved registrar.

Beginner Definitions

These common Web-related terms and their definitions will help you understand Web authoring basics.

 HTML—Hypertext markup language, a programming language used to build Web sites. It contains standard codes, or tags, that determine how a Web page looks when your browser displays it. For example, tags are used to create headings, paragraphs, and lists. HTML tags also make possible the hyperlinks that connect information on the World Wide Web. With help from programs like the Microsoft® FrontPage® 98. Web site creation and management tool, you can create Web sites without knowing HTML. But it may be helpful for you to understand the basics. To learn more about HTML, read A Beginner's Guide to HTML.

 DHTML—Dynamic HTML, an extension of HTML. DHTML gives you more control over the appearance and position of everything on your Web page. It's considered dynamic because it gives you a way to include elements on your page that download to a user's Web browser along with the page but don't become visible until the user interacts with them. This means that when the user interacts with the elements, they activate without requiring anything of your Web site's server.

 XML—Extensible markup language, a data format that makes it easy to define types of documents, author and manage documents, and share them over the Web. It's an abbreviated version of Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), the mother of all languages to describe documents, so it's easier to use, understand, and write programs for.

 ActiveX®—A Microsoft technology that facilitates interoperability, or sharing, among applications. ActiveX controls (or component applications) let you embed smart objects in the site. Once a user's browser downloads an ActiveX control from a site, the control remains on the user's computer. So when the user visits another site (or another page on your site) using the same control, it doesn't have to download again.

 Java—An object-oriented programming language developed by Sun Microsystems to create applets, or programs that can be distributed as attachments to Web documents. An applet can be included in an HTML page, much as an image can be included. When you use a Java-capable browser to view a page containing a Java applet, the applet's code is transferred to your system and executed by the browser.

 Scripting—A programming shortcut that gives nontechnical users a way to create richer content on their computers and gives programmers a quick way to create simple applications. Scripting enables you to set and store variables, and work with data in your HTML code. Many Web sites now employ scripting to check the browser a user is running, validate input, work with applets or controls, and communicate to the user.

How to View Source Code

One way to learn about hypertext markup language (HTML) and how to create the Web site you want is to view the source code of a Web site that contains a feature similar to the one you'd like to create. Microsoft® Internet Explorer version 4.0 makes this easy. On the View menu, click Source. Source code for the Web page you're on will appear in a Notepad window.

How to Save Microsoft Office Documents as HTM Files

To save a Microsoft® Office document, such as a Microsoft Excel or Word file, as an HTM file:

 1.On the File menu, click Save As.

2.In the "Save as type" drop-down list, select HTML Document and click OK.

 World Wide Web sites with nothing more than text and static pictures are quickly becoming relics of the past. Now the Web is a gateway to multimedia experiences-where you can view enhanced television programs, hold online meetings with family and colleagues, listen to audio clips of CDs at online music stores, and more. You can even battle remote computer-game opponents at venues like the Internet Gaming Zone.

WebTV

When you hook up the WebTV Plus™ service to your television set, you can surf the Internet, watch traditional TV programs, do both at the same time, or watch enhanced programs on your TV. So multimedia Web experiences aren't limited to those who have a computer. Just put the receiver on top of your TV and connect the two. Along with the WebTV Network service, several Internet service providers offer subscriptions for Internet access via WebTV.

NetMeeting Conferencing Software

If your computer is equipped with a sound card, speakers, and a microphone, you can talk via the Web to others worldwide—from family to colleagues—using Microsoft® NetMeeting™ conferencing software. Add a Windows®-compatible video capture card and/or camera, and you'll be able to see them, too. With NetMeeting, you also can exchange pictures and draw diagrams on an electronic whiteboard, communicate with text-based Chat, transfer files, and share applications.

NetMeeting is included in the full installation of Microsoft Internet Explorer browser version 4.0, which you can download from the Internet Explorer Web site.

NetShow Server

The Microsoft® NetShow™ server allows you to see and hear live and recorded broadcasts—such as concerts and breaking news—over the Web. And streaming technology allows you to see and hear the information as it arrives instead of having to wait for the entire file to download.

 NetShow is included in the full installation of Microsoft Internet Explorer browser version 4.0, which you can download from the Internet Explorer Web site.

Go to the NetShow Web page to learn more, and then download NetShow for free to see how it can bring the power of broadcasting right to your desktop. (Connect time charges may apply.)

To watch some examples of what NetShow can do, visit the NetShow gallery.

Download Internet Explorer 4.0 from the Internet Explorer Web site.

 

QuickTime

QuickTime, from Apple Computer, Inc., is one technology that makes it possible or World Wide Web sites to feature audio and video clips. It allows site builders to author digital audio and video files for their site, and it allows users to get the intended multimedia experience. With QuickTime 3 and other streaming media tools, you can listen to and watch clips as soon as they start to download from a site, rather than having to wait until download is complete. QuickTime 3 can play more than 30 video and audio file formats.

 QuickTime runs on the Microsoft® Windows® 95, Microsoft Windows NT®, and Macintosh operating systems. Microsoft Internet Explorer browser version 4.0 supports QuickTime video playback.