Accessing Internet Services
Mac OS X includes support for accessing a wide
variety of Internet services, including web, email, online
chatting, and streaming media servers.
Each of these services requires a client
application to access the service. While Mac OS X includes client
applications for these services, you are not restricted to using
them. You may prefer to use an alternative application developed by
a third party. Sometimes, while troubleshooting, using a
third-party application is a great way to determine if a problem is
specific to a single application.
Using Safari for Web Browsing
Because there is almost no configuration
required to access websites, most web-related issues are caused by
a network configuration error, an incorrect website address, or a
website code that isn't compatible with the browser being used. If
you can't access a website, try accessing a different website, and
then try accessing the problem website from a different computer.
This will help determine if the problem is network-related.
NOTE
Typically, you won't need to specially configure
a web browser. However, you might need to configure a browser when
using proxy servers or enabling support for cookies, Java,
JavaScript, or other web plug-ins.
Web communication is done through the HTTP
protocol. To interpret and display the results of the HTTP data,
Mac OS X includes a web browser called Safari. While HTTP is a
standard, not all websites and browsers follow the standard in the
exact same way. Some popular browsers include features that are not
part of the standard, and some websites will try to take advantage
of those features. Unfortunately, this causes problems for people
using other browsers. If you encounter a site where some web pages
are partially displayed, or some buttons don't function, try a
different web browser, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, or
OmniWeb.
NOTE
If you encounter a website that does not display
correctly with Safari, choose Safari > Report Bugs to Apple. If
you have access to another browser, you can try using it to see if
the problem is browser-specific.
Chatting with iChat AV
In addition to textual chatting, the version of
iChat AV included with Mac OS X 10.4 allows you to participate in
video conferences with up to three other users and in audio
conferences with a maximum of nine other users. (Earlier versions
of iChat also supported conferences, but with fewer users.) In most
cases, iChat AV uses AOL Instant Messaging (AIM) to locate and
communicate with other users. An organization may decide, however,
to set up a chat server within their firewall using Mac OS X Server
10.4. This allows much more secure communications, because most
chat messages are sent as clear text on the network and can be read
by others.
Setting up a chat server is beyond the scope of
this course, but there are other Apple certification-track courses
that address that topic. Visit www.apple.com/ training for
details.
Troubleshooting with Network
Diagnostics
New in Mac OS X 10.4, Network Diagnostics is
designed to check your network setup and ensure that your network
connection is working properly. Network Diagnostics includes the
following features to help you troubleshoot network issues:
-
It is used by Safari, Mail, iChat, and QuickTime
Player. If those applications encounter a network problem, you will
automatically have the option to open Network Diagnostics.
-
It provides a network status overview.
-
It allows you to choose which active network
interface to troubleshoot.
-
It detects network changes interactively.
Network Diagnostics can be launched manually by
clicking "Assist me" in Network preferences, or by opening the
application in /System/Library/ CoreServices.
NOTE
While Network Diagnostics can isolate a network
problem, it does not address "configuration" problems, such as an
incorrect setting in an application's preferences.
Troubleshooting Email with Mail
Connection Doctor
As with web browsing, support for mail is not
built into the operating system. Instead, Mac OS X includes the
Mail application to allow you to access mail servers. This allows
users the flexibility of selecting an alternative mail client
application, if they choose.
The most common problem when accessing a mail
server is misconfigured Mail application settings. While Mail
includes an assistant to guide the user through account setup, the
user typically must have all of the access settings for the server,
including the server's address, the user's account name and
password, and the authentication type. Mail is usually
autoconfigured when .Mac accounts are added.
If you encounter a problem while attempting to
establish a connection to either the incoming or outgoing mail
servers, choose Window > Connection Doctor to get help
diagnosing the problem. The status of your Internet connection
appears near the top of the Mail Connection Doctor window. If Mail
Connection Doctor detects an Internet access problem, you can click
the "Assist me" button to open Network Diagnostics. (For more
information, see "Troubleshooting Network
Issues" in Lesson
8, "Networking Configuration and
Troubleshooting.") If Mail Connection Doctor is unable to access
either the incoming or outgoing mail servers, you can double-click
the server entry in the list to open the settings for that
account.
NOTE
Earlier versions of Mail were unable to access
mail accounts on some Microsoft Exchange servers, because Mail did
not support NTLM authentication, and some Exchange servers only
allowed NTLM authentication. The version of Mail included with Mac
OS X 10.4 supports NTLM to access mail on NTLM-enabled servers.
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