It's time to talk about how you get Internet access and what it looks like. You have five basic ways to connect to the Internet, each with pros and cons, costs and confusions. I try to explain how you choose between them and how to choose a provider in Chapter 11, "Choosing a Connection." Then I discuss Internet access through commercial online services like America Online or CompuServe in Chapter 12, "Commercial Services." In Chapter 13, "Bulletin Board Systems," I take a brief look at connecting to the Internet via a BBS, or bulletin board system. After that, Chapter 14, "Shell Account Enhancements," looks at some utilities that put a pretty face on the hoary Unix shell account. The last chapter (Chapter 15, "UUCP Access") in this part is for those who don't want anything other than email and Usenet news. Don't worry about the terms and acronyms just yet; I explain them in the following chapters.
All these methods are in some way limited as to what they provide or what they offer for the future, so Part IV provides all the details related to setting up and using the fifth method of connecting, a full Internet connection based on MacTCP. I should be honest about this -- I fully expect that you will want a MacTCP-based connection to the Internet so that's where I concentrate the most discussion and where the software on the disk helps. If you have a Delphi account or an account on a First Class BBS, for instance, the disk is useless to you.
After Chapter 11, "Choosing a Connection," I don't expect you to read all of the chapters in this section. Frankly, if you plan to get a PPP connection as I recommend, there's no reason for you to know about UUCP or enhancements to a Unix shell acount. You may still want to read about what the commercial services provide if you're helping a friend with one, or if you also have an account there, but all that depends on your situation.
Now let's look at how you choose between the different types of accounts and how you choose an Internet provider.
Chapter 11, "Choosing a Connection"
Chapter 12, "Commercial Services"
Chapter 13, "Bulletin Board Systems"
Chapter 14, "Shell Account Enhancements"
Chapter 15, "UUCP Access"