The present invention relates to a system for handling client/server traffic and communications pertaining to the delivery of hypertext information to a client. The system includes a central server which processes a request for a web page from a client. The system operates by receiving a request for a web page from a client. If information for the requested web page is available in a cache, it is forwarded to the client. Otherwise, the relevant information for the requested web page is retrieved from the pertinent server and processed to generate additional relevant information for creating an annotated version of the requested web page which includes additional displayable hypertext information. In handling its communications with various processing/storage entities, the operating system running behind the central server utilizes a pool of persistent threads and an independent task queue to improve the efficiency of the central server.