A web browser is an interface that helps a computer user gain access to all the content that is on the Internet

and the hard disk of the computer. It can view i mages, text documents, audio and video files, games, etc. More than one web brow ser can also be installed on a single computer. The user can navigate through fi les, folders and websites with the help of a browser. When the browser is used f or browsing web pages, the pages may contain certain links which can be opened i n a new browser. Multiple tabs and windows of the same browser can also be opene d. Web browsers is an old concept in computers. As time passed, browsers with advan ced functionality were developed and updated. The primary and secondary features and facilities offered by web browsers include downloads, bookmarks, and passwo rd management. They also offer functions like spell checking, search engine tool bars, tabbed browsing, advertisement filtering, HTML access keys and pop-up bloc king. Types of Web Browsers Internet Explorer This is the most widely-used web browser by people around the world. It was dev eloped by Microsoft in 1994 and released in 1995 as a supportive package to Micr osoft Windows line of operating systems. It is presently known as Windows Intern et Explorer, was formerly called Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE), and more is commonly known as IE. People have a misconception that browsing the Internet is possible only through Internet Explorer. They are unaware of various web browse rs that are available. This simply proves that Internet Explorer is used by the majority. According to statistics, its usage share from 1999 to 2003-04 was arou nd 95%. Since then, there has been a lot of competition in the market, with many software companies coming up with web browsers that challenge IE in their featu res and usage. Microsoft occasionally releases updates to their previous version s of IE, which have some enhanced capabilities. The latest version is Internet E xplorer 8 which is a free update. The 'favicon', which is the favorites icon was introduced first in IE, and was later adopted by many other web browsers. Initi ally, IE did not support tabbed browsing, but today, it can be used even in the older versions, by installing toolbars. Mozilla Firefox It is owned by Mozilla Corporation and was the result of an experimentation. Th is browser has gone through many name changes due to name clashes with other pro ducts. 'Mozilla Firefox' was officially announced in February 2004. It was earli er named Phoenix, Firebird, and eventually Firefox. It is the second-most famous browser after Internet Explorer, as there were around 100 million downloads wit hin a year of its release. Until November 2008, 700 million downloads were recor ded. Since the release of Firefox, the sale of Internet Explorer has gone down d rastically. It has around 22% of the market share at present. It has undergone m any updates and version changes that were made to improve usability to the unive rsal users. It can be used on most operating systems, but was found to be more p rone to vulnerabilities. However, the problems were fixed in the newer versions. As it is an open source software, its source code is available,thus allowing ev eryone to access the code. It supports tabbed browsing that allows the user to o pen multiple sites in a single window. Session storage is also an important feat ure of Firefox, which allows the user to regain access to the open tabs after he has closed the browser window. Apart from these, there are many user-friendly f eatures that Firefox offers. Safari This is a web browser from Apple Inc., which is compatible with Mac OS X operat ing system, Microsoft Windows, and the iPhone OS. Safari was released by Apple i n January 2003 as a public beta. As of March 2009, the market share of Safari ha s gone up to 8.23%. The Safari 4 beta release claims to have many features like

VoiceOver Screen Reader, that reads aloud everything that takes place on the scr een, with text and web links. It also has features like CSS Canvas, LiveConnect, XML 1.0, and JavaScript support, and Cover Flow. 'Grammar Checking' is an inter esting built-in feature, which performs a grammar check on the typed text and gi ves suggestions to correct your sentence if wrong. If you need to fill an online form with your personal information, AutoFill is a feature that automatically d oes that for you, with the help of information that is stored in your address bo ok or Outlook. Safari supports all the functions that are available in other web browsers. Opera This web browser was developed by Opera Software in 1996. It is a well-known br owser that is mainly used in Internet-activated mobile phones, PDAs, and smartph ones. Opera Mini and Opera Mobile are the browsers used in PDAs and smartphones. It is compatible with many operating systems such as Solaris, Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows. Though it is not a renowned computer web browser, it is p opular as a web browser in mobile devices. It is also compatible with Symbian an d Windows Mobile operating systems for smartphones and PDAs. Opera 9.64 which is the latest version, provides an e-mail client known as the Opera Mail. The comp any claims that Opera is the fastest browser in the world. It also has some comm on functions like zoom and fit-to-width, content blocking, tabs and sessions, do wnload manager with BitTorrent, and mouse gestures. Google Chrome This web browser was developed by Google. Its beta and commercial versions were released in September 2008 for Microsoft Windows. It has soon become the fourth -most widely used web browser with a market share of 1.23%. The browser versions for Mac OS X are under development. The browser options are very similar to tha t of Safari, the settings locations are similar to Internet Explorer 7, and the window design is based on Windows Vista. Netscape Navigator/Netscape It was developed by Netscape Communications Corporation and was most popular in the 1990s. Exceptional features were provided at the time of its release, which helped it rise to fame with a market share of more than 50% in the 1990s. It wa s compatible with almost every operating system. Since 2002, it has almost disap peared from the market due to strong competition from rivals like Internet Explo rer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, etc. It had undergone many version changes to main tain its stake in the market, none of which were very successful. Although there are many web browsers available and many more are likely to arriv e in future, only those which are exciting and user friendly will be able to sur vive market competition and hold on to a substantial market share