Hello all, it’s time to talk about browsers.
I bet most of you didn’t know there was a whole sea of choices out there, each with its own claim to fame.
The first thing I would like to make note of is that when you sign up for AOL or Comcast or Verizon or just about any other service, they never actually say that you have to use their software to browse the Web. But, it sure feels that way.
Next time you get tired of all the ads that show up when you browse with plan X’s built-in browser, why not try one of these fine alternatives.
First, there is Internet Explorer 6. This is the default that came with Windows XP and is a good standard browser for all your browsing needs.
The next choice is Internet Explorer 7. This comes standard with Windows Vista and as a free upgrade for XP from the Windows Update site. This is a highly recommended upgrade as it is more secure than IE6 and it gives you tabbed browsing. Now you can have multiple Web sites loaded without opening multiple browsers. Just hit any link with the right mouse button and select “Open Link in New Tab.”
Internet Explorer 8, with its upgrades and improvements, hasn’t been released yet, but, if you really want to try it out, there is a beta version available for download.
Now for some more exotic choices. Give Firefox a try. Firefox was originally built on the Netscape engine and has picked up quite a following. In fact six out of seven of the people at my store prefer it. You can get it from www.firefox.com.
With Firefox you can go anywhere you can with IE. If you want to get fancy, there are a slew of add-on’s that can be used to customize the program to make it all your own. Also, it does tend to be more secure than IE simply because some of the riskier Web features simply don’t work while you’re using Firefox.
Another popular Web browser is Opera. It also has tabbed browsing like the other two, and you can customize it like Firefox, but it adds something new to the mix, mouse gestures. Mouse gestures is a more fluid way of browsing the Web, which I can’t fully describe in this limited space. But, you can download Opera from www.opera.com and give it a try for yourself.
A few last notes to add:
If you want to avoid other Microsoft programs like Outlook and Outlook Express, Firefox has a few sister programs. The first one of note is an e-mail program by the name of Thunderbird. The Thunderbird e-mail client does not have all the bells and whistles of Outlook, but it also doesn’t have some of the security holes.
And, if you miss the calendar features of Outlook, Firefox has a product called Sunbird to take care of that.
In Microsoft’s defense, it must be said its browser and e-mail programs are actually rather secure and they work on making them better every day.
The continuing problem is that since Microsoft is the biggest player in the field with over 90 percent of the market, who do you think the hackers are going to target?
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for future computer and softwar articles, please contact us at TwoGeeksBlog.Com.
Sven Mogelgaard is the owner of Mill Creek-based Byte Slaves Inc. (www.byteslaves.com) and can be reached by calling 425-482-9529. Will Rutherford is the owner of Bothell-based Computer Concepts (www.conceptsnet.com) and can be reached by calling 425-481-3666.
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