Software and Connecting to the Internet

Tom Kelliher, CS 102

Apr. 29, 1998

Announcements: Out of town Friday. Work on projects. E-mail journals.

From last time:

1. Projects.

Outline:

1. Software.

2. Connecting to the Internet.

3. Exercise.

Software

What do you have to know when considering a piece of software?

1. Operating system.

2. Processor: family, speed.

3. Memory, storage.

4. Graphics capability.

5. Internet access.

6. Multimedia: CD-ROM drive, sound.

Connecting to the Internet

1. Major service providers: AOL, ATT, CompuServe, Prodigy, MSN.

   Connecting to AOL. What you need:

   1. The software. How do you get that?

   2. A powerful enough computer: CPU, memory, disk storage.

   3. A fast modem.

   4. The right operating system.

   5. An access phone number.

   6. Account number and password.

   7. A credit card.

2. Internet Service Providers --- the barebones.
   1. How do I find an ISP?

   2. A powerful enough computer: CPU, memory, disk storage.

   3. A fast modem.

   4. The right operating system and software:
      1. Winsock.

      2. Internet applications: web browser, e-mail client, news reader, telnet client, ftp client, ... (How can Netscape do most of this?)

   5. An access phone number.

   6. Account number and password.

   7. A credit card.

3. New home connection hardware: ISDN, ADSL, cable modems.

4. Goucher as a small ISP.

5. ``All you can eat'' for $20.00/month.

Exercise

Let's take a look at software. Working in small groups, find each of the following software titles on the Web and post a one sentence description of the software and its requirements on the class bulletin board.

1. From Broderbund: Myst.

2. From DeLorme: Map 'n' Go.

3. From Intuit: Quicken.

4. From Microsoft: Works and Encarta.