Most people don't think too much about the technology underlying the Internet. They just want videos to play, pages to appear and e-mail to work. Behind the scenes, however, big changes are under way. They will affect the Internet at its most fundamental level. It's good to have a basic knowledge of these changes. This way, you can decipher what's true and not when you're out surfing the Web.

HTML5

Let's start with HTML. It's used to show you content online. HTML5 is the next major revision of the hypertext markup language, which is the underlying coding used to create Web pages and documents. HTML5 offers a lot of improvements. After all, it has been more than 10 years since HTML4 was released.

The most important change is perhaps in the way video is handled. Most online video uses Adobe's Flash. It has become the de facto standard for online streaming. You'll encounter it on sites like Hulu and YouTube.

Flash uses a lot of resources. It can cause browsers to crash. It's also a popular target for criminals. Flash's biggest problem is Apple. CEO Steve Jobs has been outspoken in his criticism of Flash, and iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad won't play Flash video. That poses problems for sites that rely on Flash video.

Fortunately, HTML5 can help. You won't need a separate player for HTML5 video. (Flash requires a browser plug-in.) HTML5 video is part of the language used to build sites. As long as you have an HTML5-compatible browser, the video will play, and many of the stability problems encountered with Flash will be gone.

Like Flash, HTML5 is about more than just video. It can be used to create interactive Web sites. And, it will include CSS3. Cascading Style Sheets are used to style Web pages. With CSS3, expect to see sites that are a lot more visually appealing.

As I said, your browser will need to support HTML5 video. The latest versions of Mozilla's Firefox, Apple's Safari and Google's Chrome already support HTML5 video. Internet Explorer users will need to upgrade to Internet Explorer 9. Earlier versions of IE won't handle the video. Expect Internet Explorer 9 to be released in the next few weeks.

IPv6

The other change coming to the Internet is more technical and perhaps less interesting, but it is much more important than HTML5. The Internet is upgrading to the IPv6 addressing system.

Every computer, smart phone and Web-connected gadget has an Internet Protocol address. The IP address identifies these gadgets online, allowing them to communicate. Currently, IP addresses are governed by Internet Protocol version 4, or IPv4. This provides roughly 4.3 billion addresses.

That seems like a lot of IP addresses, and it is. But it isn't enough. There are almost 2 billion computers online. More are being added every day. And that doesn't include smart phones, security cameras and other Web-connected gadgets. Each needs its own IP address.

The last of the available IP addresses will be used by this fall. There are temporary measures that can help with the shortage. The real solution is to upgrade to IPv6. IPv6 allows for roughly 3.4 times 10 to the power of 38 IP addresses. Suffice it to say that IPv6 provides enough IP addresses.

Unfortunately, IPv6 isn't immediately compatible with older hardware. Underlying Internet technology needs to be upgraded. This requires time, effort and money. And most Internet firms seem to be putting off the upgrade. Less than 1 percent have made the switch.

Fortunately, the changeover will largely happen behind the scenes. In most cases, you shouldn't need to upgrade your equipment or software. That's provided you use Microsoft Windows XP SP3 or newer. One exception is your modem. Your Internet service provider should let you know if you need to upgrade it.

Until your ISP upgrades, you can't access IPv6 Web sites. June 8 is World IPv6 Day. Many major sites will enable IPv6 to test the system. But you can test your system now. Visit www .komando.com/news for a site that will test your IPv6 connectivity.