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Network protocols are as different as spoken languages around the world.
Unfortunately, there is not a single protocol standard that all computers use, but there are a few common ones that most computers can use. There has been one protocol version in use for the last 18 years, called IPv4. The maximum limit of addresses available on any one network is over 16 million, but only 127 of these network numbers exist. In 1991 the IETF formed a committee to design a new numbering system that would allow for many more numbers, while still being backward compatible to IPv4. This new IP numbering scheme is called IPv6 and is in the final stages of testing and should become a standard soon.