What is browser browser what are its functions. What is a browser: in simple words about complex things. Modern Web Browser

Hello dear readers of the blog site. Browsers are important not only for users who are looking for the fastest, most convenient and bug-free version of the Internet browser, but also for webmasters.

It's no secret that in different programs, some sites may be displayed in different ways and to prevent this from happening, webmasters try to use. But today I want to move away from the problems of webmastering a little and invite you to try together with me to evaluate the most popular of the well-known browsers.

For ease of assessment, I decided to divide them into two groups: popular and little-known. I will also give a general description of all the creations participating in the review with links to detailed description all their possibilities.

History and Top 5 best browsers of today

I'll start by saying what is a browser and what is the history of the development of this direction of software. Of course, the first observer could be born only after. Actually, it was he who created the first browser, because without this necessary attribute, the whole meaning of his invention would be meaningless. Let me explain my idea.

Tim Bernes-Lee developed all the technical aspects (data exchange protocol http, hypertext markup language Html, principles of formation, and much more). But all this would have done nothing without a program that would interpret the page markup language into their display on the monitor screen.

In fact, the browser is an interpreter of the Html language, CSS style markup and Java scripts. Moreover, different versions some nuances may differ, which leads to the complexity of site layout. But webmasters have long learned how to get out of these situations, and in most popular browsers, all network resources are almost always displayed correctly.

The first graphical browser(he could already display not only text, lists and tables, but also pictures!) was the famous Mosaic. In fact, he became the ancestor of all modern observers and his popularity at that time was very high. Using his code, such well-known masterpieces as Netscape and the first Internet Explorer, which, thanks to its integration with the operating room Windows system and free, completely ousted the first player from the market.

However, the non-profit organization Mazil was created, which inherited the source code from Netscape (actually Mosaic). Nevertheless, this company, whose name comes from a variation of the English word "kill mosaics", completely redesigned the code of the first browser and created one of today's market leaders - Mazila Firefox.

Usually, the quality of work with a particular browser is judged by its functionality, usability, launch speed and the speed of loading new pages (this is especially critical). Also, an important aspect now is the safety of work and the stability of the program in case of any bullying over it. Almost all leaders meet these requirements to one degree or another.

Besides, almost everything, because any other distribution model dooms developers to failure and obscurity. As you probably remember, a very good browser called Opera, starting from the date of its birth (1995), was paid and only in 2005 there was an official opportunity to download it for free (we are with you, dear residents of the post-Soviet space, it has not been waited). What did it lead to?

In Runet, Opera now occupies a leading position (it was very nice at one time to have a paid program for free - if anyone remembers), well, and for tight-fisted bourgeois, the paid program for this application is still strong in memory and its share in the bourgeoisie barely exceeds a few percent. So that's it.

In fact, the nine and its followers are a ray of light among the frankly mediocre previous realizations of this mastodon. This version of the browser is quite stable, well protected and fast enough. But all the same, this version did not demonstrate any special advantages over other modern counterparts, and the share of Internet Explorer in the world (and in Runet in particular) continues to steadily decline (only 25% of the total market).

He holds only only due to the initial integration into all Windows versions... However, Melkomyagkie have their own asset, for which it is simply necessary to take data on user preferences when surfing the Internet, and for this purpose the browser is the ideal solution. Therefore, I am confident that in the new version 10 of Internet Explorer, MicroSoft will try to get ahead, or at least not lag far behind the competitors.

Since 2005, Opera can be downloaded completely free of charge, but it was the payment for it that played a cruel joke until 2005:

In addition to the desktop version, there are also quite popular ones. mobile versions browsers, which now occupy a leading position in their segment. So in the camp of the developers of this miracle, not everything is so bad.

Appearing later than all other competitors (in 2008), Chrome took a very sharp start and after about four years overtook all other players. It has already surpassed it by a lot (42% of the total market) and this can be considered a huge success for such a young product.

This reviewer is primarily distinguished by its amazing speed and reliability, which allows him not to fall even when one of the open pages or applications. Well, they complete the picture of an excellent browser.

Naturally, Chrome can be downloaded for free by accepting the terms of its use on the official website using the button just above.

Best second-tier browsers

Of course, there are dozens of different Internet browsers whose fate is not as spoiled as the five indicated just above. It is not possible to consider all of them within the framework of this article, so I decided to focus only on those reviewers who decided to "sit on the tail" of the now super popular Chrome. Fortunately, it is made on the basis of the free WebKit engine.

It is clear that a prototype (test bench) of Chromium called. In principle, it has a lot of the functionality of Google's brainchild and the numbering of its versions is ahead of the versions of the Google itself. fast browser in the world:

However, in terms of functionality, Chromium is somewhat inferior to Chrome, and in terms of stability it obviously loses to it, because in fact it is in the beta testing stage all the time. I probably wouldn't use it as my primary browser.

Everything changed, but not one of the browsers, even after refreshing the page with holding Shift on the keyboard, did not display the changes. I had to clean the cache and only after that everything fell into place. How to do it?

Good luck to you! See you soon on the pages of the blog site

Browser birth history

NCSA Mosaic is considered the world's first browser with a graphical user interface, released in the spring of 1993. It was focused on the Windows operating system. Its developers were Eric Bina and Mark Anderssen. Since NCSA Mosaic had an open source, on its basis another successful browser Netscape Navigator was built, which possessed much more simple interface and was spared the shortcomings of Mosaic. Netscape Navigator became a commercial success very quickly, so Microsoft created Internet Explorer on the same platform. Since Microsoft almost immediately began adding Internet Explorer to the Windows operating system, it literally conquered the browser market in a short time, becoming almost a monopoly.

As the popularity of Netscape plummeted and so did revenue, the company was sold to AOL, which released the browser code under a free license as the Mozilla Public License. However, Netscape 6 was written with new code and had many advantages and capabilities not found in other browsers. After a while, the browser gets a name and starts attracting new users.

What about Microsoft? Since the company almost monopolized the market, it decided to practically not bother with updating Internet Explorer, so competitors got a head start and gradually began to win back the market.

It is worth noting that back in 1995, another, now very popular Opera browser, was released. But Opera initially differed in that it was released as shareware. In those days, paid browsers were commonplace, but today they are completely free, as long as users download them.

Google was the last to join this, so to speak, battle. She "came to her senses" quite late, showing her Chrome browser only in 2008. This, however, did not stop the Internet giant from imposing a fight on competitors. What's more, according to the latest data, Chrome is the most popular browser in the world, and the company was able to achieve this in just a few years. Since Chrome is open source, other browsers such as Yandex.Browser are often created on its basis.

Browser types

Now it's time to talk about each of the reviewers separately.

Internet Explorer

It's worth starting, without a doubt, with Internet Explorer, because it was once the most popular browser in the world. It was released by Microsoft in 1995. The peak of popularity came in 2002, when the Internet began to enter the masses. In recent years, it has been losing market share very quickly.

Experts often complain that Internet Explorer is poorly protected from outside influences, that is, from Trojans and viruses. Moreover, the governments of some European countries advised their residents to refuse using the Internet Explorer. Despite all the problems, IE is still successful in some countries. For example, in Korea a few years ago, its share reached 99% of the entire market.

Microsoft continues to update the browser. To date, released Internet version Explorer 11.

Opera

Launched in 1995, a browser developed by the Norwegian company Telenor. For some reason, it was Opera that Russian users fell in love with, although in the rest of the world it ranks only fifth in popularity.

Until 2009, it was in pursuit of IE, then overtook it and became more popular. It is also noteworthy that Opera version Mini for mobile devices... This browser is embedded in several gaming platforms.

Mozilla Firefox

The third most popular browser in the world and the first among free software. According to data for 2013, its market share reaches almost 20%. Especially popular in Germany, Poland and Russia. According to numerous expert reviews, this is the only browser where there are practically no errors when testing applications.

The Firefox logo is the red panda, one of the cutest animals on the planet.

Mozilla has built in so-called Easter eggs. For example, when you enter the words about: robots into the address bar, you can see the message of robots to people.

Google chrome

As mentioned above, "Chrome" entered the market only in 2008. It was developed by Google and is considered. Many experts still doubt the latter, but if you believe your own feelings, then this is true.

Interestingly, Google CEO Eric Schmidt long believed that the company did not need its own browser, but then changed his mind with the help of the founders of the company. This is how Chrome was born.

This browser is gradually conquering the market. He is already the most popular columnist on the planet, and he is the first in Russia as well. In the future, its share will only grow, according to analysts.

Safari

Apple browser. Was originally geared towards computers Apple, however, then a version for the Windows operating system appeared. It enjoys good success in the world (its market share is more than 8%), but in Russia it is used only by every third Internet user.

Since you are reading this article, then you, like many, are interested in the question, what is a browser? No matter how strange it may sound, you actually already know the answer to it, you just probably still don’t guess. I will try to explain. In short, browser Is a web browser. That is, in order to read the information on this page, at least you had to start the browser by clicking on its shortcut on the desktop or elsewhere on your computer, type in the search engine (Yandex, Google and others) the query “ what is browser»Or any other similar to this one, find my site in the SERP and go to it. See how many independent actions you have already taken? How could you do all this without having the slightest idea of what a browser is and how to use it? Of course not.

All your steps have led you to what you were looking for, in this case to this page on my site that you are currently viewing. Now let's get back to the definition of a browser again: a web browser. And, if I understand correctly, this is what you are doing now. You see, you are already using the browser for its intended purpose. Naturally, it has other functions, the main of which we will now analyze.

Basic browser functions

Firefox is my regular browser, but I often use others in my work. I will give you the main features of the Internet browser using an example, you guessed it, Firefox, but they practically do not differ from the functions of other browsers. And so, let's go.

You start the browser by clicking on its shortcut with the mouse, and get to your home page... In my case, it is the Yandex search engine (yandex.ru). This page always opens when starting the browser. It can also be accessed at any time by simply clicking on the house icon in the upper right corner (circled in red in the figure) or by pressing the Alt and Home keys simultaneously. I think it's understandable.

As a home page, it is recommended to set the one that you most often visit, from which you would like to start your work on the Internet every day. It is very easy to change it. To do this, just click on the inscription "Firefox" in the upper left corner and enter the Settings, as shown in the figure below.

You will see a window in which in the field "Home page" you need to enter the address of the required site, for example http://www.yandex.ru or http://vk.com. You can drive in the address of absolutely any site. We figured out how to change the home page and what it is. Let's move on.

Since we are talking about site addresses, let's dwell on them. Each site is unique. You will never find sites with exactly the same URLs. Let's draw an analogy with real life. There are hardly any families living in different apartments or houses at the same address.

The site address very often begins with "www", but this part can be omitted. Then the name of the site goes through a dot, for example, the same favorite "yandex". We put one more period and write the end of the address: ru, com, net. org and others. In our case, we received the address of the Yandex search engine “www.yandex.ru”. To get to the site by its address, you just need to enter it in address bar your browser.

For faster access to your favorite sites were invented bookmarks... It is enough to click on the asterisk icon to the right of the address bar or press the key combination Ctrl + D, and a window will appear in which you need to enter the name of the bookmark, select the folder you need for it and click "done". You can bookmark absolutely any sites you like, for convenience they can also be divided into folders. To view bookmarks, you need to click on the corresponding icon in the upper right corner in the case of Firefox, or in a slightly different way depending on the browser.

For more convenient navigation through the sites, there are tabs... If you want several Internet pages to be open at the same time, then be sure to use the tabs. To open a new tab, click on the plus sign (circled in red).

Most often, the Internet is used to information search... It is naturally impossible to do this without a browser. Since you are reading this article now, you most likely already know how to search for information on the Internet. I recommend using search engines such as yandex.ru and google.ru for these purposes. In your request, most accurately indicate what you want to find. For example, if you live in Moscow and want to buy yourself a car, write in the search bar "Car sale in moscow".

Browser types

There are quite a few browsers, but only a few of them have gained popularity. Let's talk about them.

Is one of the oldest browsers surviving to this day. IE is part of Windows, which is probably why it gained popularity in the world. Perhaps this is its main advantage. Despite the fact that it is developed by specialists from Microsoft, Internet Explorer lags behind other browsers in many respects, it often displays sites incorrectly, does not support many modern standards, and the speed of its work is not encouraging, although it has noticeably increased in new versions of the program.

Opera is a very old browser, it has many different settings, functions and extensions, it is very fast. This browser, in my opinion, will be somewhat difficult for beginners, but if you understand it, you can safely make it the main one for work and play. Personally, I didn't use it much, but I noticed a few negative points. Firstly, it displays some sites a little incorrectly, most often the problem is the increase in font size. I think this error will be fixed in new versions. Secondly, Opera for the first time did not import bookmarks, passwords, history and other data from my other browsers. This function I still found it, but the path to the profile with the data had to be specified manually. In my opinion, this is somewhat inconvenient. Maybe I did something wrong, I do not deny this point, but the fact remains. Yandex Browser, for example, coped with this task in no time. Thirdly, there was a case when I opened only one page, while neither the browser nor the computer were restarted by anything, after which Opera froze for about half a minute, or maybe more. Of course, these are all coincidences, and this can happen with any browser, I just share my impressions of using them. In general, the browser is very good, it supports all, or almost all, modern standards and technologies.

- first appeared in 2002, is regularly updated, supports all modern standards, displays sites as correctly as possible, has many additional extensions and plugins that are easy to install and update. Firefox also has disadvantages: sometimes the browser freezes for a while, sometimes even for several minutes, after which it may stop working altogether, citing some kind of error. It also happens that the browser, saying simple language, is buggy. For example, now on some sites you have to manually enter logins and passwords each time, despite the fact that they are saved in the browser and should be displayed in automatic mode... I also noticed such a glitch as the periodic loss of the spelling check: sometimes it disappears by itself and then it appears itself, while I do nothing. It is worth noting that Firefox has very good support, so all problems are often solved in new versions or in other ways that can be found on the program's forum.

- appeared relatively recently, in 2008, but has already gained popularity all over the world. Google Chrome can be summed up in three words: fast, simple and convenient. Despite its visual simplicity, the browser has all the necessary capabilities and supports all modern standards. Even a beginner will master it in a matter of minutes. Proof of convenience Google chrome is the fact that many of the technical details first used in it were later borrowed from it by other browsers. For example, tabs in browsers were for a long time under the address bar, above which there was also a menu in the form of drop-down lists, as a result of which the browser header turned out to be quite cumbersome. If my memory serves me, then for the first time it was in Chrome that the tabs were moved under the address bar, and the menu was completely in a different place.

- is the youngest browser in this list and in the world as a whole, at the time of this writing, its age is only a month, but despite this, it is actively gaining popularity, as a rule, among the Russian-speaking population. In my opinion, it has a great future, especially in Russia and the CIS. But if Yandex makes more efforts, then the browser may go far beyond the borders of our country, although it is hard to believe in it, wait and see. It combines all the virtues modern browsers, and also has its own individual characteristics. For example, only in this browser I saw that the titles of Internet pages are displayed not only in the tab, but also in the address bar. In their own way outward appearance and the Yandex Browser interface is very much like Google Chrome, they are also made on the same engine. The browser works very smoothly, quickly and without brakes, according to at least, that is how he showed himself in my case. Separately, it should be said about the Yandex Browser security system, which was developed at Kaspersky Lab, as well as about Turbo technology, which accelerates the loading of sites, which was created by Opera and will appear in the next versions of the program. I myself have not tested or verified these developments, since I have neither the ability nor the desire.

The list could also include a browser from Apple, but, as far as I know, its development and support for Windows has recently stopped. I will just say that the browser is really made very high quality and beautiful, like any other products from Apple. If you want, you can download Safari and use it, you are unlikely to be disappointed.

Which browser is better?

Each Internet user must choose a browser for himself. Neither I nor any other person will be able to fully objectively answer the question of which browser is better. Here it is most likely a matter of taste. For example, I don't really like working on Opera, but this does not mean that this browser is worse than others. Many of my friends use it.

As you know, My choice on this moment- Mozilla Firefox. Since I use it more often than others, I have given more specific examples of problems and errors in this browser, but this does not mean that others do not. At times, absolutely every browser is buggy, like any other program. Some, of course, have fewer glitches, some more, but everyone has them. Any browser can freeze and crash, you can't get away from it.

For beginners, I would recommend browsers such as Google Chrome and Yandex Browser. Let me explain why. They are the easiest to learn, everything is as simple as possible, there is nothing superfluous, complete minimalism. You will not need to scour the wilds of the menu to find this or that function, everything is on the surface. But despite their apparent simplicity, both of these browsers are very powerful and support all modern standards. The initial functionality in them without installing any additional extensions is also quite large. For example, only these two browsers are initially able to translate sites from foreign languages. For others, such a function becomes available only after installing additional plugins.

Perhaps objectively, or almost objectively, I can only speak about Internet Explorer. It is this browser that most often displays sites incorrectly, and I also heard that its security system is lame. Despite the fact that IE is the oldest browser on this list, lately it has only to catch up with its young competitors, and this is far from being the best way for it.

When choosing a browser, you can also take a look at popularity ratings, but I advise you not to rely on them. Each person must choose for himself what he likes. For example, there are still a lot of users in the world who prefer IE, but, in my opinion, this is only because it is installed on a computer along with Windows. Most people do not like to change anything and look for the best, but use what they already have. I used to use Internet Explorer too, but that was a long time ago. Then I was not such an active Internet user as I am now, I did not know all the intricacies, I thought that sites should be displayed exactly as in Explorer, I simply did not know the best. If on any site something moved out or was too large or, conversely, small, I thought that the error was in the site itself, but, as it turned out, I was wrong. In the original version of this article, I gave the rating of the popularity of browsers in Russia and in the world in general, but then I realized that this was not necessary, since it was constantly changing, and indeed right choice definitely won't help.

When choosing a browser, you need to pay attention to several highlights:

Convenience - with this item, each user must decide for himself. To do this, download the browser, work on it for several hours, and if you feel any inconvenience or something you don't like, download and test the next one. And so on, until you understand which browser is most convenient for you. In principle, the list is small, so testing will not take long.
Functionality- by and large, all of the above browsers have sufficient functionality for almost any Internet user. In case one or another function is missing, you can always download and install an add-on or plugin.
Speed - I personally did not check the speed of this or that browser using any services, let alone stopwatches. I can say that latest versions each of them work pretty fast. Somewhere I saw the results of a study, according to which Chrome loads web pages the fastest, and displays the visible part of the page on the Firefox screen. To what extent this is true, I do not know. I don't think Yandex Browser or Opera are far behind them in this indicator.
The correctness of the display of sites- it would seem, well, why not update the developers of their browsers and make them correctly display sites. Imagine how cool it would be if in all browsers each site looked exactly the same, how many problems it would have for the layout designers (specialists who "pull" the design onto the site), but no, the developers cannot yet bring their browsers to perfection, which is a pity. I want to note right away that browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Yandex Browser display sites as correctly as possible. Opera also supports almost all modern standards, but there are still times when it does not display a particular style correctly. Recently, it was because of her that I had to redo the font sizes on one of my sites, as she increased them very much. Also go, for example, to Yandex Market and see how it is displayed in Opera and in any of the above browsers, I'm sure you will see the differences. I don’t really want to talk about Internet Explorer, but still I will say: this is one of the most backward browsers in terms of the correct display of sites. He is very bad with shadows and other effects. Very often, it is for IE that a separate style file is written so that it somehow cope with its task.
Safety - to be honest, any in special ways I have not checked this item. I know that Chrome and Firefox have everything, it seems, in order, on Yandex Browser you can also make big bets thanks to cooperation with Kaspersky Lab, I can't say anything specific about the Opera, I heard about IE that the security system is so-so. In any case, install antivirus programs on your computers, and everything will be fine.

In the matter of choosing a browser, do not completely trust anyone's opinion. What seems convenient and ideal to another, you may not like at all and vice versa. The most important thing in a browser for ordinary Internet users, in my opinion, is convenience... If you are satisfied with the work of the browser, its interface is pleasant and it is simply convenient to use it, then you are unlikely to pay special attention to other points. But in any case, try to evaluate the browser on the other points listed above, and then make your final choice. Moreover, now, I hope, you understand what a browser is, why you need it and how to use it correctly. Personally, I would advise you to take a closer look at Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, Yandex Browser also performed well, but, I repeat again, this is just my subjective opinion.

If you have any questions, there were problems with the choice or operation of this or that browser, you are welcome in the comments.

Imagine a huge library that contains millions of books. A library is the internet, and every book is a web page written in a specific programming language. The Wikipedia page looks like this:

Among all these signs, it is difficult to make out information. Therefore, the browser serves as a special tool for reading these symbols and displaying information in a form convenient for us.

What browsers exist: the most popular types

There are a lot of Internet browsers and they all have their own characteristics. Let's talk about the most accessible of them in more detail.

Google chrome

One of the leading internet browsers. Its advantage is its simple interface. Google Chrome is fast and secure, it has its own constantly updated database of unsafe sites. In its settings, you can set the page view mode. Data in this mode is not stored in cookies or in history. In the Chrome settings there is already installed plugins and an online store of extensions. If desired, you can speed up the software through the task manager. A profile in Chrome is synchronized with other devices, so as a mobile browser it is also very popular.

Internet Explorer

The oldest Internet browser, which was once immensely popular. It is known to many users as it is part of the Windows operating system and is considered a "browser download browser". Internet Explorer, despite all the improvements and additions, cannot compete with modern and fast software. It has poor support for the main languages html and css, which most of the pages are made in. Therefore, the elements are displayed incorrectly, and the coders have to adjust the code.

Microsoft Edge

It is the newest replacement for Internet Explorer. It comes with Windows 10. Edge is redesigned to be fast, secure, and stable. It has the Cortana voice assistant feature, but it is somewhat inferior to the voice assistants of other systems. Edge has also added InPrivate mode, which is similar to Chrome's incognito.

Opera

This web browser is in the top best browsers for personal computers and mobile devices. The Opera has its own special features, which not all competitors have analogues. The Opera Turbo feature, which allows you to speed up the loading of sites, cannot be ignored. When you turn on turbo mode in congested and slow networks, pages open much faster. In addition, Opera works great on slow devices. It is ideal for users with limited traffic. By speeding up page loading, it greatly reduces the amount of traffic. A very convenient solution is built-in ad blocking without third-party plugins and extensions. Thanks to this, the speed of work increases by 3 times. This feature can be disabled in the settings if desired. But, probably, the main advantage is the built-in free server.

Other advantages of the Opera:

There is a possibility of control through "hot" keys.
Energy saving mode saves up to 50% of the device's charge.
Opera has a large assortment of extensions and themes for design.

Yandex browser

It is a young web browser developed by search engine Yandex. Created on the same basis as Google Chrome. In some ways, Yandex Browser is in many ways similar to Chrome, only linked to Yandex services. Of the features, control through mouse gestures can be noted: hold right button and make the necessary gesture.

Mozilla Firefox

Convenient and high-quality browser that has won the trust of users. It has a simple and intuitive interface. The toolkit of the program can be increased indefinitely with other extensions and adjusted for yourself. However, when installing a certain number of add-ons, it becomes slower.

Safari

Provided with MacOS, but there are modifications for Windows. It has an elegant and simple design, the ability to add extensions and is endowed with all the other necessary functions.

What do users need a browser for?

The main function of a web surfer is to display site pages.

Most users use it not only to search the Internet, but also to:

watching movies, TV series, cartoons in good quality;
games;
learning;
translation of text;
listening to music;
downloading any files;
online shopping, bank transfers;
reading.

Some of the capabilities are provided by the pages themselves: in the case of games, the browser acts as an intermediary. Other features, such as support for various document formats, saving bookmarks, belong to the functionality of the web browser itself.

Extensions

These are additional tools that perform specific functions and tasks. There are special plugins for ad protection, for saving articles and videos to specific sites. Thanks to extensions, users have new opportunities, the functionality of programs for viewing hypertext documents on the Internet is changing.

Why do developers need a browser

Looks at the page differently from the user. It needs special tools and plugins for it to work properly.

A developer needs a browser to:

testing your site on all types of web browsers;
viewing the DOM tree, CSS styles;
using the JavaScript console for code review and debugging.

Cross-browser compatibility: what it is, why is it needed, how is it achieved

Different web browsers may display the same site differently. - this is the correct display of your page in different programs.

The reason for the problems with the unequal display of the site lies in the history of the development of systems for viewing pages on the Internet. Basically, the reason is that different softwares interpret the same code differently. Such differences are a real headache for site creators.

Cross-browser compatibility is achieved with normal CSS. If this is not very effective, then hacks will come to the rescue. And for Internet Explorer, conditional comments are used, they only work in IE, other browsers simply ignore them.

Technically, a web browser is a client. A program that uses the HTTP (or HTTPS) protocols to send requests to web servers over the Internet. Most browsers support by e-mail and FTP (file transfer), although a web browser is not required to use them. There are separate programs for working with mail and file transfer.

The very first browser, which was named WorldWideWeb, was created in 1990. The name was changed to Nexus to avoid perspective confusion. The first web browser with a graphical user interface was Mosaic in 1993. Most of user interface Mosaic has been ported to the Netscape Nsvigator web browser. Microsoft later introduced Internet Explorer (IE), which until 2006 was one of the most popular web browsers. Back then, the choice was between IE and Netscape. Today the user has more choice. And IE has already ceased to be wildly popular; first of all, users install other web browsers for themselves.

Most common browsers

There are quite a few web browsers, although most are based on the most common ones. The most popular browsers today are:

Firefox. Developed by Mozilla, an open source version of Netscape.
Google Chrome. Browser from Google, one of the most popular today, both for desktop and mobile devices.
Safari. Browser for Apple devices. The third most popular, only works with Apple operating systems.
Opera. Fast, stable, compatible with most operating systems browser.
Lynx. Text browser for UNIX and VMS users.
Internet Explorer. The browser from Microsoft is still actively updated, supported and optimized, despite the impressive competition.
Flock. Browser based on Firefox with Web 2.0 support for blogging and social bookmarking.
Tor. Browser for completely anonymous access to the network. It is usually used to bypass the territorial ban on the display of certain pages and access the darknet.

Modern browsers are constantly updated and provide users with more and more opportunities to visit the world wide web. So don't forget to update when it comes out. a new version... Updates to such client software are completely free.

Basic functions and browser management

All web browsers have the same basic functionality. They are designed to communicate with web servers and provide user access to sites. You can download them from the official websites of the developers, they are completely free. Each browser has its own toolbar through which you can access your favorite sites. Including ours.

Browsers tend to have similar toolsets and buttons. There is address bar, forward and backward buttons, refresh button and page stop button. They all have their own menu, where you can set custom settings, if necessary. Also in the browser you can see the history of the pages that you have visited recently. Or you can clear it so that no one else gets access to this information. Browsers differ in operating speed, extensions and user interface.