Web Browsers Information

Web browsers are software packages that display web pages containing text, graphics, audio and video files and links to various other web pages. Some examples of graphical web browsers are Mosaic, Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer.

Mosaic

 Mosaic was the first web browser. It was developed by the National Center for Supercomputing Application (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is available for Macintosh, Window and X Windows platforms. This software is available free on the Internet and ca be downloaded from "ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu" by any anonymous FTP.

Netscape Navigator

Netscape Navigator was released in 1994. It is available in different versions for UNIX, windows and Macintosh platforms and has built in e-mail and Newsgroups facilities.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer is based on NCSA Mosaic and is distributed under a licensing agreement with Spyglass Inc. This is a shareware software and can be downloaded from the Internet. It comes in different versions for various windows products.

We will be using Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 that is shipped with Windows XP. Let us discuss how we will use Internet Explorer 6.0 to browse the Internet.

Changing Internet Options

You can change the settings of your Internet Explorer using Internet Options from the Control Panel. Use the following steps to change the settings:

1. Open Network and Internet Connections from the Control Panel, which you can open from the Start menu.
2. Click Internet Options icon. The following window is displayed:

You can change the following settings using Internet Properties:

• You can change the first web page to be viewed in the browser.

• You can delete Temporary Internet Files to make more disk space on the machine.

•   You can use the Content advisor to block objectionable sites to be viewed from the machine.

• You can specify how the fonts and colors are to be used on the Brower.

• You can set the security level for downloading of files on the machine.

• You can set the programs to be used for reading e-mail and Internet newsgroups.

Interface of The Explorer

You can open the Internet Explorer using the Start -> All Programs->Internet Explorer menu option. The Internet Explorer will open the default home page that you have set in the Internet Options, for example "www.msn.com" as in the following figure:

As can be observed from the above figure, the URL appears in Address bar at the top of the window.

Browsing The Web

Internet Explorer 6.0 has built in IntelliSense that enable you to type in a few words and the most commonly accessed addresses appear in the Address bar for you to choose form. Similarly, you can complete Web based forms by just typing in a few worked and you can select the rest of the entries form a choice presented to you by the browser. It also determines the network and Internet connection status automatically.

The different ways in which you can navigate web sites using IE are:

• Type in the first few works of a frequently used site in the Address bar and the names of the sites matching the words will appear just below the Address bar as shown in the above figure.

• You can use the search button on the toolbar to locate a Web site based on a phrase or word. The Search Companion panel will appear on the left side of the window as in the following figure:

• You can directly using the Address bar by typing the work or phrase you are looking for. The browser will display a list of most appropriate web sites matching your work or phrase.

• You can browse through other sites or web pages related to the one you are viewing by clicking on Show Related Links under the Tools menu.

• You can browse through the web pages you have recently visited by clicking the History button on the toolbar or by clicking History from View->Explorer Bar->History. You can even rearrange or search the History list.

In the above figure, you can arrange the sites in the History list by clicking on View drop down list, which provides you with the option of arranging the sites- By Date, By Site, By Most Visited, By Order Visited Today.

• You can add frequently visited web pages to your Favorites list for easy access. You can organize your favorite web sites in folders and sort them in the order that you like.

• You can add your favorite web sites by clicking Add and can organize the web sites by clicking Organize.