This is what browsing used to mean, kids
From Wikipedia:
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content.[1]Hyperlinks present in resources enable users to easily navigate their browsers to related resources.
The web browser is the first place I like to turn my attention when I’m working with somebody who wants to improve their Internet experience. People often don’t realize they’re using a browser. They think they’re just using the Internet, or they’re used to getting on line through AOL or some other ISP’s proprietary software. As the quote from Wikipedia says, a web browser is a piece of software. It’s your real home on the Internet, the place where you keep your information and where you customize things the way you like them. A browser is a very personal thing – at least a good, well-used browser is. It fits you like a favorite tool or piece of clothing does.
In the Windows world, almost everyone starts out using Internet Explorer as their web browser. It’s the default, it’s installed already, when you set a new computer up it’s what starts up when you first go on the Internet.
The later versions of Internet Explorer are a huge improvement over IE6, which was standard with XP, and has bedevilled web developers for years. (It’s very insecure and not very standards-compliant). Microsoft has finally suggested to its users that they should no longer use IE6. The current version of IE is IE9. If you are not using it, please visit http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/internet-explorer/products/ie/home to get it for free.
A better bet, though, is to move to one of the modern web browsers: Opera, Safari, Firefox, or Chrome. Opera is at version 11.11 for Windows, is very fast, and provides a secure, pleasant experience. It has a good range of browser extensions. Opera has never really caught on, though. http://www.opera.com/
Safari is Apple’s web browser. It’s fast, stable, and if you’re a Mac or IOS (iPhone, iPod, and iPad) user, you already have it. I’m not sure what incentive a Windows user would have to use it unless they were also a Mac user or heavily invested in IOS. http://www.apple.com/safari/ to download.
Firefox is the open source descendant of the old Netscape browser that Microsoft killed as a commercial product by bundling Internet Explorer with Windows in the 1990s. Firefox tends to get slow when you load it up (as you will want to do) with a lot of add-ons (add-ons are small applications that plug in to browsers to add functions like password control, or notetaking). The latest version is 4.01. Download it from http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/new/
Chrome is Google’s browser. Fast, efficient, very stable. I prefer Chrome to all the others and use it exclusively except for a very few sites that don’t work with it (Constant Contact is a notable example – I have to use Firefox).
What I would suggest is that you try any or all of these browsers and see how they suit you. Disk space is cheap and they are all free – so have fun!
