Browsing Through Web Browsers by Matt Meier

When asked what web browser someone uses, or what a web browser even is, many don’t know the answer or even how to answer.  So in today’s blog, we’re going to explain what a web browser is, and the differences of the many web browsers available.

Different from Windows or Mac (operating systems), or google (search engine), a web browser is a program on your computer in which all website access must go through.  Most all major web browsers are free to use, and there is no right or wrong choice for web browser.  Every computer comes with a default web browser, Internet Explorer for Windows and Safari for Mac, so there’s no need to panic. However, with the proper knowledge of the available web browsers, one would be able to choose the browser best suited to their needs.  So, let’s meet the browser family!

Internet Explorer(IE) has been widely been a browser of notorious reputation for quite some time, even though it is estimated that more than 50% of people use it to browse the web.  In years past, IE had known security leaks, which are the cause of nasty viruses and other harmful programs called malware.  Many people have shied away from IE for this reason alone, but with recent versions, IE is just as safe as the rest.  Two major cons however, is that IE has tons of “security alerts” which could slow web browsing, and the browser itself has been widely known as the slowest.

The second most common web browser used is Mozilla Firefox.  Due to its’ efficiency, user-friendliness, and safety, it has become well known and respected in the browser family.  Firefox also has very aesthetic and customizable themes, allowing you to recreate the image of it endlessly.  Firefox’s downsides?  Firefox uses tremendous system resources, and the more complex you make your browser, the slower it runs.  

Safari is the default web browser for all Apple products (Mac and iPhone/iPad), and has one of the best looking interfaces of the entire browser family.  Safari can be a little mysterious at first glance, due the distinction in appearance it makes from IE and Firefox, but it is just as easy to use.  Its’ most redeeming quality is that it remembers how you customize each web page you view and bookmark, allowing you to review the page in the exact format that you left it.

Last but not least of the browser family is Google Chrome.  The fastest of all mainstream browsers, Chrome believes that less is more.  With very little customization and excess, Google Chrome sticks to the essentials of web browsing.  Chrome is mild-mannered also, in that one web page crash will not cause the entire program to crash. It’s not completely lackluster either, as Chrome’s “power tabbing” features enable you to seamlessly add or remove tabs from the current window to or from another.  The only issue Chrome has is the lack of compatibility with media-filled sites that are specifically designed for IE or Firefox.

Changing web browsers is easy: simply open your current web browser, visit the website of the browser you wish to change to, and follow several yet simply step-by-step instructions to download and install it.  Make sure you select “make this my default browser” when you open your new web browser for the first time!  Almost all bookmarks, cookies, saved pages and history is transferrable across browsers, so that’s a huge sigh of relief.  If you still feel uncertain about which browser to choose from, take some time and visit each of their websites yourself, as well as look at the many other browser possibilities that are available other than these four.