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Internet Browsers
The Internet is called many things, including the web, the net and the world wide web. They all basically mean the same thing, although there are some differences for the fussy amongst you!
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To access the Internet you need to use one of the many browsers available free from the manufacturers. We will concentrate on the most popular types for PC's, Internet Explorer. This browser is available free from Microsoft, and can be downloaded from their websites and kept up to date, still free, as and when you like.
As a matter of interest, other Browser include Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and from Apple, Safari. |
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On the left is a picture of an open IE browser. Here at Tactical Panda, our browsers usually open with either a blank page like this for speed of loading, or they are set up to display the Google UK home page. If you would like this on your browser, it is relatively easy to do. |
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But let's start by opening the browser. There are many ways to do it, but here are the two most popular. You initially access Internet Explorer (IE) from either your desktop where you will see a graphic like the ones shown here (which you double click) , or via your Start Menu. (Icons shown here depict IE6 (left) and IE7 or IE8 (right). |
| The Start Menu has many looks depending upon the system you are running. We generally use Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Windows 7, you may have Windows 7, Vista, XP Home, Windows 98, ME or Windows 2000, but whatever system you use, the method is virtually the same. From your desktop, double click the IE icon (or picture) and your browser will open up for you. |  |
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It's as easy as that! The second method is via your Start Menu. The picture on the left shows the XP version, but the other systems may look like the one on the right. All you do is click on the word 'Start' and a window will open up listing all your programmes.
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Here we see what happens after we click the Start button. Here you can clearly see both the Internet Explorer and Firefox links / icons. Once you find it, simply click the respective icon and the selected browser will open up for you. |
Browser Choice
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Most of you will by now have seen an icon (small image) appear on your desktop called 'Browser Choice'. In addition a small pop-up window may have appeared on your screen after an update from Microsoft and you re-started your computer. So why are you being offered a choice of browser?
You are being offered up to eight alternative browsers as a direct result of the European Union (EU) sticking its nose in and insisting that in the spirit of fair competition, Microsoft are now compelled to offer all users of Windows within the EU an alternative to the pre-installed Internet Explorer. |
You are not alone! The countries affected by this legislation in the EU are:
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So as you can see, Microsoft had a huge task in front of them when this EU law was imposed upon them! You can elect to add additional browsers if you wish, or not. Some computer users like Firefox, others favour Google Chrome or Opera and from Apple, Mac users like Safari, some like to have more than one browser installed - the choice is yours.
Internet Explorer (IE) is installed on just about every computer running windows in the world. It can be removed, but I wouldn't necessarily advocate that. If you listen to the rumour mill in the IT community, IE is full of security holes and is vulnerable to attack by hackers. There is a simple reason for this and Norton anti-virus is testament to this same theory. IE is very popular and therefore being the tallest poppy in the field, is open to criticism and investigation by people with not a lot else to do with their time.
Firefox is a very good browser with plenty of optional add-ons, but can be painfully slow to load at times especially when compared to IE and Chrome. It is very secure and is recommended for things like online banking. Google Chrome is almost as secure, and is very quick to load and display websites.
You are not obliged to install a new browser if you don't want to - at least the EU has allowed you some choice in the matter. If you are happy with your current browser and you don't want to (a) change, or (b) have a second (or third) browser, you can safely delete the 'Browser Choice' icon from your desktop and it shouldn't bother you again.
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