How do I access the Web?

To access a Web server and display a Web page, you need client software known as a Web browser. Browsers are so named because they are easy-to-use programs that allow you to freely browse Web pages for hours at a time. Netscape and Internet Explorer are two of the most widely used browsers.

 

Web links (also known as hypertext, hyperlinks, hotspots, and jumps) are visually distinctive words, phrases, and graphics located on Web pages. In most browsers, links are colored (often blue) and/or underlined. When you select a link on a Web page, the file referenced in the link is downloaded from the server to your computer. Web pages can have any number of links embedded in them, creating an endless web of documents to sample.

 

Important: This is a deliberately simple explanation of the relationship between HTTP servers and the Web files they access. Servers also run special Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts that facilitate hypertext connections to local resources such as databases.

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