Internet Explorer is the most commonly used Web browser available - but it is also the most insecure. The application has a history of security holes and is not as good as other browsers at blocking pop-ups.
Windows comes with Internet Explorer set as the default Web browser - so whenever you click a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) link in a document, email, or instant message, Windows uses Internet Explorer to load and display the webpage, unless you install another browser and make it your default on a PC. Afterinstalling one of the recommended Web browsers, go to the application's Preferences and select Default Application.Go to Tools and then Internet Options.
Note: You do not need to uninstall Internet Explorer, and you should not try. Although it is not the best Web browser out there, many web pages expect users to browse using Internet Explorer, so their pages work best with it (especially some Microsoft webpages and application). If a page will not load properly with another browser, try reverting to Internet Explorer just for viewing that specific page.
The Mozilla web browsers are open source programs from the Netscape Navigator family. Firefox is a stand-alone web browser while Mozilla is a web-browser-and-email-client-in-one. Mozilla also makes Thunderbird, the stand-alone email client as an alternative to Microsoft Outlook. It boasts a powerful pop-up blocker and tabbed browsing. Firefox is "skinnable", which means that you can easily personalize the way it looks. At Barnard Resnet, we actually recommend the use of Firefox for all students as it has more frequent security updates than Internet Explorer.
Check out the many extensions you can add to further personalize your browsing at addons.mozilla.org.
To make Firefox your default browser, open Tools, select Options, select the Main tab, and check the "System Defaults" box.
Opera is smaller than other browsers and has some unique features as well. Chief among these is the ability to open multiple windows, even at start up, without running out of memory. You can also zoom in and out of Web pages and navigate entirely with your keyboard (Note: you can do this with Firefox too)!
If you have a Mac, Safari is installed before you turn it on for the first time. Safari is faster than Internet Explorer and it works well with Rendezvous and the Address Book applications that are also standard on Mac OS X. However, not all web pages and features have caught up with the growing Mac user-base so Safari is not always compatible. Some Mac users prefer Firefox or Opera to Safari, so try them out!
To make Safari your default browser, open Preferences and choose Safari as your default browser on the drop-down menu. Note: Often Preferences is the Mac equivalent for telling a Windows user to go to Tools and then Options, especially on the browsers above.
Whenever you visit a website, your computer automatically downloads a great deal of content from the site so that the next time you visit the site, it will load much faster. If you have a slow internet connection, this can make surfing the web much less cumbersome, but on faster internet connections, it is not necessary and only clutters your hard drive and can actually make pages load slower because your computer spends time looking for the files instead of just getting them from the webpage's server. This is especially true if you use Internet Explorer. So, if you choose to use Internet Explorer, it is important to delete your Temporary Internet files once in a while.
To delete Temporary Internet Files and the Internet Cache:
Another way to control how much space your Temporary Files take up is by resizing your Internet Cache. By default, Internet Explorer uses 10% of your hard drive for Temporary Files, which was fine years ago but is much too big today. To customize the allotted Temporary Files space:
A cookie is a file created by a website and stored on your computer that is typically used to authenticate or identify your computer as a registered user so that you do not need to sign in every time you go to the website. Cookies are also used in maintaining a "shopping basket," site personalization, and tracking which pages a user visits. Some people prefer not to allow cookies because it is one way for companies to monitor your web browsing for marketing purposes.
You can control whether or not your computer will allow cookies very easily.
CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) is a freeware system optimization tool that removes unused and temporary files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster, more efficiently and giving you more hard disk space. You can download it for free from ccleaner.com.