A Web browser is a software application that is used to view Web
pages. Most browsers can also be used to send and receive email,
connect to Web based free email services and read newsgroups.
Web pages
include text, graphics, sound and video.
These pages,
written in the hyper-text markup language (HTML), have "links" that
allow the user to quickly move from one document to another...even
when the documents are stored in different computers.
Web browsers
"read" the html text and convert it into a page like the one you
are now looking at.
Currently
there are many Web browsers available. Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla
Firefox and Netscape Navigator are the most popular. (Netscape was
the first commercially available web browser. Click here to read the press release
from October 13, 1994.) Critics frequently disagree over which browser
is superior. Most people prefer whichever browser they used first.
I prefer Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox & Opera.
There are
a couple of new-comers to the scene, Opera and NeoPlanet. Opera is renowned for being the world's fastest
browser. Opera is much smaller than other major browsers. In its
standard configuration, it almost fits on a floppy disk, yet it
is all you need to surf the web. The NeoPlanet browser is
very stylish looking. With over 500 stylish skins the NeoPlanet
can look, feel, and sound the way you want it to.
These browsers
can be obtained over the Internet. Feel free to download whichever
one you are currently not using and take it for a test drive. There
is no charge for them. Click on the icon to download the browser
of your choice.
Not enough
choices? Click here to visit
an archive featuring over 80 different browsers, both old and new.
Web browsers
are fully customizable. You have the option of changing the size
of the text and style of font that is displayed.
You also
have the option of changing the "home" or "startup" page that appears
when the browser is started. I suggest that you set your "home"
to whichever portal you usually visit. I personally like
www.google.cay or www.yahoo.com
as they seem
to load quickly, particularly if you have an older (slower) computer.
Here's
a list of suggested sites that will make excellent "startup"
pages.
