Chapter 7. Getting on the Web
Plenty of people buy a pc to crunch numbers, scan photos, or cultivate their kids’ hand-eye coordination. But for millions of people, Reason One for using a PC is to access the Internet. This chapter covers getting online and surfing the Web. The next chapter covers that other thing you can do on the Internet—email.
To join the Internet party already in progress, you need three components: a connection (like a modem, cable modem, DSL, or corporate network), an Internet account, and Internet software (like a Web browser). Windows XP comes with a browser—Microsoft Internet Explorer (but this chapter also mentions some alternatives).
How to Get Online
Most people connect to the Internet using a modem, a device that connects your PC to a standard voice phone line. Almost every modern computer comes with a dial-up modem built right in. All you have to do is sign up for an Internet account, and you can be online in minutes. (For more detail on choosing a service, see the box on Section 7.2.1.)
Cable and DSL
Nearly half of all Internet fans have abandoned their dial-up modem in favor of much faster gear like a cable modem or a DSL connection. Actually, neither cable "modems” nor DSL connections are modems in the true sense of the word. The word “modem” is an abbreviation of mo dulator- demodulator, ...
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