A Web browser is a software application that is used to view Web pages. Most browsers can also be used to send and receive email, connect to Web based free email services and read newsgroups.

Web pages include text, graphics, sound and video.

These pages, written in the hyper-text markup language, have “links” that allow the user to quickly move from one document to another…even when the documents are stored in different computers.

Web browsers “read” the html text and convert it into a page like the one you are now looking at.

Currently there are many Web browsers available. The Microsoft Internet Explorer and the Netscape Navigator are the most popular. (Netscape was the first commercially available web browser.

Microsoft has released a new version of Internet Explorer with new, built-in security features. Internet Explorer 7.0 (with new anti-spyware features). The move comes four years after Microsoft, the world’s biggest software company, launched a major initiative to improve the reliability and security of its software, which runs on about 90 percent of all personal computers.

There are several new-comers to the scene, Firefox is the fast new web browser that’s winning praise from users and the media for making the web fun and easy again. There is also Opera and NeoPlanet.

These browsers can be obtained over the Internet. Feel free to download whichever one you are currently not using and take it for a test drive. There is no charge for them. Click on the icon to download the browser of your choice.

Google recently released it’s own web browser called Chrome. On the surface, they designed a browser window that is streamlined and simple. To most people, it isn’t the browser that matters. It’s only a tool to run the important stuff - the pages, sites and applications that make up the web. Like the classic Google homepage, Google Chrome is clean and fast. It gets out of your way and gets you where you want to go.

If you use an Apple computer you may wish to try Safari (there is also a version that runs on PCs). It offers you a superior Web experience with outstanding performance. Even the most complex of pages load at breakneck speed. In fact, Safari loads pages more quickly than any other Mac Web browser. Not enough choices? Visit an archive featuring over 80 different browsers, both old and new. Web browsers are fully customizable. You have the option of changing the size of the text and style of font that is displayed. You also have the option of changing the “home” or “startup” page that appears when the browser is started. We suggest that you set your “home” to whichever portal you usually visit.Here’s a list of our suggested sites that will make excellent “startup” pages.Want to research something fast? Install a search engine toolbar within your browser. Some even block pop-ups and spam and can securely remember your credit card number for future purchases. Best of all, they’re free.