High Tech Household

Ars Technica posted a quick write-up about an Internet Explorer add-on aimed at helping children be safer while online. It sounds like it’s mostly just a custom search engine and some IE Web Accelerators, but something is better than nothing.

The most important note, in my opinion, is that parents must be aware of what their children are doing online. No software package can be a fool-proof child safety-net. This could be a useful tool, but it doesn’t allow a parent to be uninvolved.

• Ars Technica: Hands-on: Microsoft launches child-friendly IE8

Google announced this week that it is going to be phasing out support for Internet Explorer version 6 from its Google Docs and Google Sites applications as of March 1.  If you are a user of IE version 6, now may be the time to consider an upgrade or a new browser.  To see what version you have, click on the “Help” menu, and then click on “About.”  This will give you a version number, something like 6.0.1234 or something similar.  It’s the first number that you care about.  If it is version 7 or version 8, you’re OK.  If you are version 6 or lower, you should really consider using another browser, as Internet Explorer 6 is becoming increasingly obsolete.

It is important to note that if you are using FireFox, this doesn’t apply as Google is only dropping support for FireFox versions 3.0 or lower.  Since Firefox prompts the user to upgrade, most Firefox users are up-to-date.  Google is also planning to stop support forr Chrome 4.0 or lower and Safari 3.0 or lower.  For more information on the different web browsers and where to download newer versions, see our primer on web browsers.

Anyone who has a computer these days browses the Internet.  The web browser has become as important as the operating system in meeting a user’s personal or business computing needs.  When the World Wide Web began its life 15 years ago, the dominant web browser was Mosaic, which later became Netscape.   In 1995, Internet Explorer entered the marketplace with Windows 95, coming free with every new computer.  As Netscape and Microsoft competed in the “Browser Wars”, Netscape became a bloated piece of software and died a slow death.  However, before Netscape’s dominance ended, they created an open source group to develop a new web browser called Mozilla, which ended up providing the engine for the popular FireFox browser.  Microsoft’s dominance in the web browser has been deteriorating in recent years because of the introduction of several new, powerful, and fast web browsers.

Since the battle between Netscape and Internet Explorer ended, different web browsers have come and gone, with varying levels of success.  The Browser debate also garners a lot of passion as people get very attached to their personal choice of web browser.  While there are countless minor web browsers out there (which we will examine at some point in the future), we focus on the five major web browsers currently in use:  Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla FireFox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, and Opera.

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