It220 Web Browsers
Web Browsers
Bob Ulysse
IT/220
12/18/2009
Prof. Jennifer Schroeder
Web Browsers
Web browsers, while they all may differ in name, creators, and design; they all serve one purpose—to browse the World Wide Web. Amongst the many web browsers available to consumers, the three—Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, and Mozilla Firefox—are the most prominent. Because of the browsers’ common purpose, they tend to share more similarities than differences. All three browsers connects the user to the same internet or intranet (start page may differ); they all include a toolbar to navigate through web pages; but only the earlier two—Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator—are based on the earlier technologies of NCSA Mosaic. The remainder of this essay will further elaborate on more of features, functions, and my personal experience with these browsers. Microsoft Internet Explorer, my current default browser, was created by the Microsoft Corporation and released as an add-on to the Windows 95 Operating system (released in July 1995.) Growing public interests of internet browsing led Microsoft to the development of this software add-on, giving many more people access to the internet. Common amongst this browser, and the many other browsers, is the internet toolbar. The toolbar houses commonly used buttons such as Back, Forward, Home, and Reload/Refresh. The Back and Forward buttons allows the user to return to a previously visited page; Home brings the user to his or her pre-selected or default start page; and Refresh/Reload reloads the current web page, in case all components were not properly loaded the first time. Most important amongst these toolbar features is the address bar, also known as the URL, which allows the user to set their browsing destination. Below is the toolbar for Microsoft Internet Explorer (see figure 1.) [pic]
Figure 1: Internet Explorer Toolbar Source: http://www.learnthenet.com/english/html/12browser_2.htm
Bob Ulysse
IT/220
12/18/2009
Prof. Jennifer Schroeder
Web Browsers
Web browsers, while they all may differ in name, creators, and design; they all serve one purpose—to browse the World Wide Web. Amongst the many web browsers available to consumers, the three—Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, and Mozilla Firefox—are the most prominent. Because of the browsers’ common purpose, they tend to share more similarities than differences. All three browsers connects the user to the same internet or intranet (start page may differ); they all include a toolbar to navigate through web pages; but only the earlier two—Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator—are based on the earlier technologies of NCSA Mosaic. The remainder of this essay will further elaborate on more of features, functions, and my personal experience with these browsers. Microsoft Internet Explorer, my current default browser, was created by the Microsoft Corporation and released as an add-on to the Windows 95 Operating system (released in July 1995.) Growing public interests of internet browsing led Microsoft to the development of this software add-on, giving many more people access to the internet. Common amongst this browser, and the many other browsers, is the internet toolbar. The toolbar houses commonly used buttons such as Back, Forward, Home, and Reload/Refresh. The Back and Forward buttons allows the user to return to a previously visited page; Home brings the user to his or her pre-selected or default start page; and Refresh/Reload reloads the current web page, in case all components were not properly loaded the first time. Most important amongst these toolbar features is the address bar, also known as the URL, which allows the user to set their browsing destination. Below is the toolbar for Microsoft Internet Explorer (see figure 1.) [pic]
Figure 1: Internet Explorer Toolbar Source: http://www.learnthenet.com/english/html/12browser_2.htm
References: Browser wars. (2009, December 19). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Browser_wars&oldid=332602884 Comparison of web browsers. (2009, December 18). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Comparison_of_web_browsers&oldid=332436067 Learn The Net. (2009). Web Browsers. Retrieved from http://www.learnthenet.com/english/html/12browser_3.htm Microsoft. (2003). Windows History: Internet Explorer History. Retrieved from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/WinHistoryIE.mspx