DaLyfe Tech Tip: Make the best of your internet experience by upgrading your web browser
Submitted by: Esc8pee - February 5 2010
Web Browser: A Web browser is a software application that enables a user to display and interact with text, images, and other information typically located on a web page or website on the World Wide Web...
This is a basic overview of web browsers for beginner to intermediate computer users, to help keep you informed about some internet and web technology. Although all of this info. is readily available online, we decided to consolidate a small bit of it into one place to save you the time of having to research it for yourself.
With research suggesting that minority and lower income urban communities have lower access to technology (the internet included), and our backgrounds in technology, we wanted to do our part to inform you of what you many not already know about making your user experience a much better one.
Tech. Stuff can be confusing as well as cost prohibitive for many, that's also why some new estimates we've seen have said that the low income groups in the US don't have the best access to the internet and don't always have the best hardware (like computers) or software (like web browsers) that is widely available.
We can't do anything to upgrade your computer, but we can provide you with some info. to help you to be up–to–date with your web browsing software, and it won't cost you any money at all.
Why would you or should you want to upgrade your browser?
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Basically there are two main reasons to upgrade to a newer web browser.
- Newer browsers offer more security for you and your computer.
- Newer, modern advanced browsers offer a much better internet experience that cannot be duplicated by older browsers, such as speed, multi–media capabilities, and much more.
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Other benefits of upgrading your web browser:
- It's a relatively easy upgrade.
- It's a completely free upgrade.
- Upgrades and completely new browsers are being offered by reputable known companies like Apple and Microsoft (you can trust it).
In our opinion the newer versions of the following browsers all offer a great internet experience and are easy to get and install on your computer, whether it's a Mac or a PC.
Fire Fox: This is a real diesel browser, it is also in my opinion a necessity if your into web design because of it's standards compliance and special browser *add-ons, some of which are specifically tailored towards web designers and web developers. Fire Fox is also a fun browser to use if your into customizing your stuff, there are tons of user contributed themes and *add-ons on the official Fire Fox website. These themes can customize everything from the way the interface looks to blocking annoying pop–up adds and incorporate a super small version of the iTunes media player right into the web browser. Fire Fox like Safari by Apple will run on the Windows PC as well as the Mac and you don't have to remove your other browsers to use it.
*Ad-ons are often made by 3rd party contributors as well and there could be potential risks if you install a poorly made one or a malicious one. Be sure to check out the user community ratings and feedback before you install em'.
Safari: This is also a browser that takes standards compliance seriously. The latest version also supports the newest technologies on the web, including something called HTML 5, which will ultimately mean you as the user will not have to install so many 3rd party plug-ins in order to watch video and enjoy other media content like music. If your into a nice slick modern artistic look, then we'd suggest checkin' out Safari, it's interface is really beautiful. Apple also included a cool little feature into Safari that displays your favorite sites in an iPod or iTunes style gallery on the home screen when you first open the browser or even a new tab. Safari is also made to work on PC computers for those using Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista and newer with no problems, and like the other browsers you don't have to remove your other browsers in order to test it out to see how you like it.
Chrome: Chrome is fast like Fire Fox and Safari, but like the interface on the Google search home page Chrome is very minimalistic in it's interface and overall look and feel. It supports things like tabbed browsing as well as HTML 5, and is pretty fast as well. Because of it's basic look and feel it's super easy to use and get up and runnin' using it in no time at all even for beginners. Works on Windows XP, Vista and 7.
Internet Explorer 8 (IE 8): IE 8 is Microsoft's newest browser version and usually the default browser when you buy a new PC computer. It's not my favorite browser by any means. But, if your gonna use Internet Explorer, then you really should be using the latest version. If your viewing this site using an older version of IE like IE 6 or even IE 7, then you'll probably be surprised to find out that most websites will look much nicer as well as perform much better, load more quickly, and run more stably on other browsers as well as the newest version of IE, version 8.
IE 6 also has many serious security issues that you should be aware of. It's extremely slow compared with advanced modern browsers, and it does not support web standards well at all. Microsoft even at one point recommended that all users of IE 6 upgrade or choose to use a different web browser. IE 8 is much more intuitive and easier to use than older versions with many new features too. It Works on Windows XP, Vista and 7. If you have an earlier version of windows, probably the most recent version of IE you can use may be IE 7. You can check it out at Microsoft's official website.
Updating to any of these modern web browsers is relatively easy and totally FREE! And they are extremely easy to use and install. They take web standards seriously and have taken a lot of big steps to give you a much more secure internet surfing experience.
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Here's where to get the latest versions (US):
For serious web surfers you can also enjoy having multiple browsers on your personal computer at the same time without having any problems at all. As web developers Pixie and I use several different browsers on our computer, sometimes using them all at the same time!
How to install at a glance:
Go to the company website of the browser you want to test drive. Follow the download instructions, then you'll need to install the file you downloaded. Install by clicking on the file, this will start an install program, follow the instructions and in no time you'll be up and running. Ultimately the more that people and businesses upgrade to newer browsers the more the web will improve and the better experience and computer security we'll all have while using the internet.
