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2.4: About Web browsers

  • Page ID
    305529
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    The Web browser is the tool that people use to access over the Internet information that is published as part of the World Wide Web. It is software that you know as Internet Explorer, Safari or Firefox and it does three important things:

    1. It searches and finds information.
    2. It retrieves information and brings it back to you.
    3. It renders the information for display on your computer

    When a browser retrieves a Web page and brings it back to you, it makes a copy of the various pieces that make up that particular Web page and stores those files on your computer. This is called the cache.

    The cache is a temporary storage of all the files you download during your Web browsing. You can adjust the settings on the cache in your browser to store a little or a lot of these temporary files. It’s a good idea to clear your cache regularly to help your browser run efficiently. It also deletes unneeded temporary files from your computer, which helps your entire system run better.

    Managing your browser’s cache

    • Firefox 2.0: To clear the cache, select Tools then Clear Private Data. To limit the size of the cache, select Tools then Options and click on the Network tab.
    • Safari: Click on Safari in the top menu, then select Empty Cache.
    • Internet Explorer 7: To clear the cache, select Tools, then Internet Options. Click the Advanced tab. Scroll down to Security and check “Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.”

    To make sure the browser is showing the most updated files for a Web page, use the Refresh button (or hit F5 on your keyboard). This tells the browser to go back to the Web server and get new copies of all the files that make up that particular Web page.

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    These are the refresh buttons for Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer 7 and 6.

    A final note about Web browsers: If you haven’t tried a new Web browser lately, you should. These programs are constantly updated and improved. Especially recommended is the Firefox browser, which is a free download. It was developed as an open-source project and at the end of 2006 was being used by almost one-third of Internet users. That’s quite a remarkable feat given the advantage Microsoft’s Internet Explorer has. (It’s preloaded on all Windows machines — 92 percent of the market — and is set as the default browser.)

    Plug-ins and extensions

    Modern Web browsers can display more than just text and graphics but usually need the aid of plug-ins or extensions. Popular add-ons include Adobe Acrobat Reader (for PDFs), Flash (for animation), and media players such as QuickTime, Windows Media Player and Real Player.


    This page titled 2.4: About Web browsers is shared under a CC BY-ND 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Briggs via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.