About a decade ago I read news stories (on the internet of course) that yes, eventually the internet will simply run out of IP addresses. This is because the internet primarily assigns IPv4 addresses. You know them as four numbers separated by periods, such as 192.168.1.100.
The solution to the problem is the assignment of IPv6 addresses. More on that in a moment.
Google says in somewhere in the year 2011 (which is not that far away) IPv4 space exhaustion will occur according to current predictions. As such, the Google search engine is available right now over IPv6 at ipv6.google.com. If you’re actually on an IPv6 connection you can connect there now. If not (which counts for the vast majority of us at the present time,) it won’t work.
Some quick notes on IPv6 support
Q: Does Windows XP support IPv6?
A: Yes, but it’s not installed as a default protocol. However installing it is relatively painless.
Q: Does Mac OS X support IPv6?
A: Yes.
Q: Does Linux support IPv6?
A: Yes. In fact, Linux was first to support it way before anyone else.
Will you have to buy a new router when IPv6 becomes mainstream?
Most likely. Granted, some routers have IPv6-enabling abilities in them but yours most likely doesn’t.
Are there any write-ups on how IPv6 would work in the home?
Yes. Microsoft has a detailed write-up explaining in-home network setups using IPv6.
Do you have to prepare for IPv6 now?
No. But in 2010, yes.
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