Surfing the Internet

Once you get online with NetZero, you'll suddenly be faced with the Internet. The following pages will help you understand how it works and how to use Web browsers like Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator.

A. Understanding the Internet

The Internet is generally made up of many computer systems that are interconnected to each other. A visual illustration of these connections might resemble a spider web, which is why the Internet is also known as the World Wide Web.

Web pages themselves are merely a series of specially-formatted texts and pictures. You will notice that Web page addresses often begin with "http://" - This is because the current method we use to transmit Web pages is called "HyperText Transfer Protocol" or "http" for short.

HyperText is an old term referring to a piece of text that can "link" to another piece of text. These links, or "hyperlinks," exist on practically every Web page, and are usually underlined and colored differently than the rest of the text. Both text and pictures can be "linkable" on a Web page.

Web page addresses often begin with "www" (short for World Wide Web) followed by a period, the name of the site, another period, and a three-letter ending. The three letter ending is often ".com," (short for commercial site) but other popular endings are ".net," (network provider) ".org," (organization) or ".gov" (governmental agency).

In order to view Web pages, you must use a program known as a Web browser.

B. Choosing a Web Browser

While there are a variety of browser programs with the ability to access information on the World Wide Web, the most common by far are Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.

Microsoft, with its Windows-friendly Internet Explorer Web browser, currently dominates the PC market. Most new computers with the Windows operating system installed already have Internet Explorer ready to run, making it the convenient choice for most users.

Netscape is the developer of the alternative browser choice, Netscape Navigator, which was the popular choice in browsers in the early days of the Internet. Netscape continues to update its browser, and many people who used Netscape early on (including many Macintosh users) are still using the same browser today.

Which Browser is Best?
Honestly, it's all based on personal preference. Both browsers do essentially the same thing: display Web content.

NetZero is designed to work under:

• Internet Explorer 4 and higher (Minimum System Requirement for v4.x)
• Internet Explorer 5.0.1 and higher (Minimum System Requirement for v7.0)
• Netscape 3.x through 4.x.

Note: NetZero is not compatible with Netscape 6 at this time.

C. Using Internet Explorer

NetZero supports Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0.1 and higher, which is the recommended browser for maximum compatibility with our software. For a walkthrough on how to use Internet Explorer, click here.

D. Using Netscape Navigator

NetZero supports Netscape Navigator 3.x through 4.x, but is not compatible with 6.x or higher at this time.

For a walkthrough on how to use Netscape Navigator, click here.