culture.gov.au
Connecting you with Australian culture online
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Henry Lawson: Australian writer Convicts and the British colonies in Australia Australian food and drink The Great Depression Australian weather and the seasons Sydney Opera House Christmas season celebrations in Australia Remembrance Day European discovery and the colonisation of Australia The Australian Gold RushGuide 6. How do I get connected?
What software do I need to connect to the Internet? (screen 4 of 6)
Your computer needs two types of software to allow you to get connected to, and interact with, the Internet.
1. SLIP and PPP connections
The first type consists of the items that help your computer to communicate with the computer of your ISP(1). This is determined by the type of account you have with your ISP. Software with names like PPP and SLIP are involved here.
SLIP(2) Serial Line Internet Protocol.
These are the main types of accounts provided by an ISP for Internet connections. They allow your computer to become a part of the Internet community for the time you are connected.
Generally this software is free and can be obtained from the Internet. You should be able to obtain it from your ISP, or download it from the Internet. You should also be able to get your ISP to help you with setting up this software.
You need to have specific address information from your ISP to set this software up for a connection.
2. Other software: browsers, email and more
The second software type includes such things as Web browser applications, email software, newsreader software, and any other software which allows you to view information which comes to your computer from the Internet, or send information to the Internet.
This software - Web browser applications(5), email software(6), newsreader software(7), FTP software(8), and plug-ins(9) for the browser application - are mostly available from sites on the Internet, or can be purchased from computer stores or through computer magazines.
Popular fully-featured browser software like Netscape Navigator(10) and Microsoft Internet Explorer(11) is now available free and they generally come bundled with new computers. If you have older versions of the software, you can download the newer versions from their respective websites - just make sure you have sufficient RAM and hard disk space to run them effectively. These Internet browser applications also include email software - Outlook Express with Explorer and Messenger with Navigator.
How do you know which type of software will suit your needs? Only by research. Read reviews of them in computer and Internet magazines, or on the Internet. Talk to colleagues or sales people about them. And try them before buying if you can. Some software developers allow you to test their products on a free 30-day trial. You can often download these trial versions from the software developer's website.
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References
- Guide 6 screen 5 http://culture.gov.au/resources/guides/g6/s5.htm
- Definition of SLIP in Whatis.com http://whatis.com/slip.htm
- Definition of TCP/IP in Whatis.com http://whatis.com/tcpip.htm
- Definition of PPP in Whatis.com http://whatis.com/ppp.htm
- Guide 3 screen 4 http://culture.gov.au/resources/guides/g3/s4.htm
- Guide 3 screen 8 http://culture.gov.au/resources/guides/g3/s8.htm
- Guide 3 screen 12 http://culture.gov.au/resources/guides/g3/s12.htm#newsreader
- Guide 3 screen 11 http://culture.gov.au/resources/guides/g3/s11.htm
- Guide 7 screen 4 http://culture.gov.au/resources/guides/g7/s4.htm
- Netscape Navigator http://www.netscape.com/computing/download/index.html?cp=hom08tdow
- Microsoft Internet Explorer http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/
If you can see this message, you are probably not seeing this site in the way it was designed. This site uses cascading style sheets (CSS2) to control the way in which elements are displayed on the page.
You will still be able to access everything in this site, but we do recommend you upgrade your browser to a more recent, standards compliant, browser.