HTTP/1.0[2], released in 1996, enhanced HTTP/0.9 to be more flexible, extensible, and reliable. To distinguish between the two protocol versions and provide backward compatibility, an HTTP version number was added to each HTTP command. One of the major shortcomings of HTTP/0.9 was the inability to include meta information in HTTP requests and replies. This lack of information made it difficult for clients to determine what type of media was being received. HTTP/1.0 overcame this problem by extending the format of requests and replies to something very similar to that of the Format for ARPA Internet Text Messages [6] and the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions [4]. Using this format, servers can include content-type information in replies to better describe the content being sent to clients. Along the same lines, clients can include additional information in requests to potentially allow the server to better serve the client.
