"The Internet," sometimes called "the Net," refers to the whole worldwide system of networked computers, everything and everyone that's on it, and all they can do.

By contrast, the World Wide Web, sometimes called "the Web" is that subset of the Internet that relies on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, or HTTP, to delivery web pages and related linked materials through hypertext links, using software called "browsers."  Many things and services are part of the Internet, but not part of the World Wide Web. For example, e-mail is an Internet service, but, unless you use a Web-based service like Hotmail, it is not part of the World Wide Web.

With the flood of new users onto the Internet in recent years, many treat the concepts as identical, but if you don't want to give others the appearance of being an Internet newbie, it's a good idea to keep them straight.