Getting Started Guide

H
OME
I
NTERNET
A
PPLIANCE
–G
ETTING
S
TARTED
W
ELCOME TO THE
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NTERNET
4-3
Internet Addresses (URLs)
What Is a URL?
If you know the URL of a particular site, you can type it into
the text box in the center of the browser toolbar and go there.
Most URLs look like this:
www.name-of-company.com.
The first part of the address stands for World Wide Web. The
middle part is a descriptive word or the name of the company
or individual that owns the site. The last part of the address
indicates the type of company, business, organization, or
country such as .org for organization, .gov for government, or
.com for commercial.
The list of such identifiers is constantly growing. Some of the
more common ones in use include org, .gov, .edu, .com, .fr,
.de, .it, and .uk. But .com is the most widely used address
format, especially in the United States.
Internet
Addresses
(URLs)
Surfing the Web is made
possible by the addresses
assigned to the linked
computers on the Web. The
Web address (also called
the Uniform Resource
Locator, or URL) allows
other computers to view the
information on Web pages.
An Internet address
identifies each site on the
Internet in much the same
way that the street address
123 Main Street identifies a
building's location. You
need an Internet address to
find a Web site just as you
need a street address to find
a house or other building.
The Compaq Web site
address is
www.compaq.com. When
you access this address, the
Compaq Web site and all its
associated Web pages
display on your Home
Internet Appliance.