Web browsers are software that makes it easy to access the internet. You must have seen icons of google chrome, Mozilla Firefox,etc.on your computer or your mobile, so these icons are nothing but web browsers. In this article, we will discuss web browsers in-depth with their key features and benefits of using a web browser in detail.
What is a Web browser?
Definition: A web browser is a kind of software that allows you to go through all the information provided on the world wide web. By using a web browser anyone can search for any type of web page and the web browser opens the page of the particular website which is searched by a searcher.
In simple words when you type any URL i.e. address of any website( for example you type www.facebook.com) on the address bar of any web browser then the web browser asks the server to provide information about that website using http (hypertext transfer protocol).
A URL is simply an address of a website in a server. Where the server and web browser communicate with each other via http .
there are many browsers available like – internet explorer, Google Chrome, UC browser, firefox, opera, There are some common web browsers that are mostly used by people, etc.
Uses of Web Browser
The following are some important uses of web browser:
1. By using a web browser you can browse (or navigate ) all the websites and get all information you want.
2. By using a web browser you can exchange emails.
3. By using a web browser you can chat with someone by text message
4. By using a web browser you can see any kind of video you are looking for.
Common features of Web Browser
All Web Browsers have some basic features in it. following are some main characteristics carried by all web browsers
1. An address bar: It is the place where you type an address of a website
2. Refresh button: It is used to reload the web page.
3. Stop button: This button is used to stop the communication between browser and server.
4. Home button: It is used to reach the home page quickly
5. Tabbed browsing: This is a feature that is used to open multiple websites in a single window. By this feature, you can open many tabs in a window and also open a website in each particular tab.
6. Integrated search: This feature allows you to choose your favorite search engine and do a search in them.
Types of Web Browser & Their History & Features
Following are a list of some different types of web browser with their features:
1. Internet Explorer: It is the most famous web browser in the world. Most people in the world use internet explorers. It was made by Microsoft in the year 1995. Microsoft is a very trustable company so we can take facilities of internet explorer without any doubt
History of internet explorer: THOMAS REARDON was the person who started the project to make a browser in 1994. He uses the source code from Spyglass, Inc. He made the first commercial browser named as Mosaic, After some time Microsoft licensed spyglass mosaic and released the first version of the internet explorer for windows 95. After that Microsoft launched many versions of internet explorer and the latest versions of the internet explorer are Internet Explorer 11.
Some features of internet explorer are as follows:
A. Support: The engine used by internet explorers is the Trident layout engine. It support HTML 5, CSS (LEVEL 1 LEVEL, 2 and LEVEL 3), XML 1.0 and DOS LEVEL1T
B. Good cache recovery: Internet explorers open different pages in different tabs and each tab has a different cache so if the cache of one tab crashed or destroyed so other tabs won’t be affected.
C. Visuals: By using an internet explorer you can have a great visual experience because it uses the graphics which are accelerated by graphics.
D.Security: Internet explorer is a trusted brand and its security is considered as one of the best security in the world of web browsers. There are security settings in the internet explorer in which we can make a pool of those websites, which are safe to access and then access them with ease.
E. Integration with Windows: Now a day’s internet explorer is integrated with windows. Internet explorers also have features like save, save as, properties, etc. which we use to see in windows.
2. Google chrome: It is considered as the fastest web browser of today. It is a product of Google and hence a trustable product.
History of Google chrome
At first, Google didn’t want to make any web browser because at that time Google was a new company and Google didn’t want any fight of web browsers, this decision was made by the CEO of that time named Eric Schmidt. After some time Sergey Brin and Larry Page demonstrated the Chrome browser, after seeing the demonstration Schmidt found that the idea is great and he was convinced to make a web browser after that Google made the web browser called Google chrome.
Some features of Google chrome are as follows:
A. Incognito mode: chrome has incognito mode on it which does not save search history and any kind of search can be made there. generally, people use this model to search for adult content.
B. Inbuilt chrome cast: Chrome provide inbuilt chrome cast which allows you to see that thing on your TV which you are seeing on your PC screen
C.Youtube control: If you open any video on youtube via chrome and also open a new tab then a music note icon appears on top and by clicking it you can see what current video is playing on it directly by the icon.
D. Reopen closed tab: This feature allows you to open that tab which was recently closed by you This feature is useful when you accidentally close a tab and you need to open it.
E. Advanced download feature: By this feature, you can download anything from chrome in any particular folder you want.
3:Opera: Opera is also considered as a good web browser with unique features in it such as it has its own ad blocker, it supports Facebook, WhatsApp, etc. You can also sync the opera web browser to multiple devices.
History of opera
Opera was first released (not publically ) by Opera Software AS, in 1995. This is a company from Norway. Publically opera browser was released in 1996.
Some features of the Opera browser are as follows:
A. Edit snapshot: In the new version of opera, there is a feature of taking a snapshot and you can also edit it.
B. Zoom your page: You can also zoom your page fully, that is, not only text can be made bigger but you can also expand pictures, videos, adobe flash, java, etc.
C. Download manager: By this feature, you can also pause, resume, and restart the transfer of files. This is a very good feature if you are busy or if your internet speed is very slow. Your browsing history is there from where you can see your downloads and can open them in that folder where they are downloaded.
D. Setting to download image: This feature allows you to choose whether you have to download pictures or not. When you have low data then this feature is very useful to save data.
E. VR Player: The Opera Browser is the first to provide this facility. By this feature, you can see 360-degree videos and feel virtual reality.
4:Mozilla Firefox: It is also a nice web browser. There was a time when Mozilla Firefox was considered a slow web browser but nowadays the situation has changed. Today it has a good browsing speed. There is a drawback of using Mozilla Firefox, it ruins your device’s battery very fast.
History of Mozilla Firefox
It is made by Dave Hyatt and Blake Ross and first released in 2004. The first released version was named as Firefox 1.0, its latest version was released on the 25’th of August 2020. The latest version is named as Firefox 80.
Some features of Mozilla Firefox are as follows:
A. Sync your Firefox: This is the feature that allows you to sync your Mozilla Firefox so that you can access your Firefox from anywhere you want. It can be done by clicking on the menu and choosing a sign to sync on it.
B. Browse privately: By this feature, you can search privately and faster and the browser will not save any of your data so your privacy is maintained.
C. Menu bar can be customized: You can customize your menu bar or toolbar. This helps you to work on browsers the way you want according to your habit to work on any web browser.
D. Add-ons feature: The add ons are actually apps that can be installed in your device, by these apps you can customize your Firefox as you want for example you can change the theme if you want..
5:Safari: It is developed by Apple and mainly used by Apple customers. It was developed in 2003 and announced by Steve Jobs. Its latest version is Safari 14
Some features of Safari are as follows:
A. Protect your data: The unique and best feature of safari is to check that advertiser or any other sites that use to track your data and remove such data that track user’s data. Safari uses machine learning to protect our data.
B. Private searching: Safari provides the facility to search privately, if you use this feature Safari will not track your browsing history.
C. iCloud tab browsing: It is a very unique feature of Safari, by this feature you can browse with multiple Apple devices like Macbook, iPhone, iPad, etc.
D. Sharing: This is also a unique feature of Safari by which it can share a website from one Apple device to nearby Apple devices via social media like Twitter, Facebook, etc.
E. Battery saving: Safari is a battery saver as it consumes very less battery in comparison to other web browsers.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Web Browser:
Here we will discuss some of the benefits of using a web browser:
1. If any programmer wants to develop a program then the programmer can easily test his/her program on the internet.
2.Now a day you can store data on the internet by using a web browser.
3. Today’s web browser provides many facilities where you can download any file in any folder you want with the help of today’s web browser.
4. By using a web browser, the ability to reach anyone in the world became easy. Now you can easily reach a person sitting in America from any remote part of India.
5. Today’s web browser is safer to use and protect your device from the viruses ( especially opera )
6. Web browsers are very easy to use and you can easily download web browsers and you can maintain them easily.7. web browsers are available for 24/7 use and we can use them whenever we want.
The following are disadvantages of web browser :
Web browsers can take your privacy away as there is the possibility of hacking so hackers can know all the things you do on the internet and can misuse your private information.
Kids also can see any type of content by using a web browser and there is an abundance of adult and violent content which is not good for kids.
Using a web browser for a long time can harm your eyes and brain, a study shows that it affects your concentration power and also decreases your patience.
To work on the internet you have to sit for a long time which increases your obesity.
Conclusion: This article is all about Web Browser, its uses, type, and advantages of Web Browser in depth we discussed above. I hope you understand the article.
