Carlette DeLeon: Tech Time: Software

Regardless of the platform you are working on, PC, Mac or Linux, your browser is your “window to the internet”. Browsers have come a long way from the popular Netscape, which ushered in a new era of graphical Internet interfacing. Today’s browsers are used for more than just research; shopping, banking, communication, entertainment and more recently productivity are all now core functions of the browser.

There are a lot of browser options out there, and best of all, their FREE! Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer (IE), Opera and Safari dominate the field with now common features like tabbed browsing, thumb nail previews, RSS feeds, customisable skins, widgets and add-ons.

Generally, browsers are easy to use and have built in search engine capabilities. This means, all you really need to do, is enter a keyword in the address bar and the browser will figure out the exact address, the site you visited previously or bring up several options for you choose from based on the keyword entered.

Private browsing and cookie management are critical for modern browsers, giving users the power to control how much personal information about them is available online.

Though many Browsers boast similar features, they occasionally display pages differently and provide different levels of security. Like your anti-virus software, your browser should always be up-to-date with the latest version to prevent pop-ups, viruses, spy ware and phishing threats that may result from security holes.

Windows 7 Tip: Right-click an empty part of the desktop, select Personalise > Desktop Background, then hold down Ctrl as you click on the images you like. Choose how often you'd like the images to be changed (anything from daily to once every 10 seconds), select Shuffle if you'd like the backgrounds to appear in a random order, then click Save Changes and enjoy the show.