The web browser is the program you use to look at web pages and to browse the Internet. Most people only use one or two browsers. Webmasters like myself use about 45 to test our websites on.

Internet Explorer (IE) is the dominant web browser currently. It is made by Microsoft and included with Windows. Current versions are 7 and 8.

There are a number of other web browsers available. The ones I will mention here are the most common ones o most talked about after IE and all work on Windows.

Firefox is made by Mozilla and is the second most popular browser. You can download it for free at firefox.com. It will work on several operating systems including Linux, MacIntosh and Windows. The current version of Firefox is 3.5.

Safari is made by Apple and was originally for the MacIntoshes but works on Windows also. It is available for free at apple.com/safari It is currently on version 4 and works on the Mac also.

Chrome is a new browser and is made by Google. It has only been available about a year. It is available free at google.com/chrome It will only work on Windows XP with SP2 and Vista. There has been a lot of press about Chrome in the last year.

Opera is made by Opera Software in Norway. It runs on Linux, Solaris, Unix, MacIntosh and Windows. It is available free at opera.com It is currently on version 9.

Different pages will behave differently in different browsers. I use Internet Explorer and Safari when working on my online classes as the program Angel will work with mail in IE but not Safari and the discussion boards are the opposite on my computer at college. All the browsers are similar but things are moved around and terms change. To get your page sent again you Refresh in IE and Reload in Firefox.

Dwight Watt is a computer instructor at a technical college in northwest Georgia and also does computer work for businesses, individuals and organizations in the Swainsboro area. His webpage is www.dwightwatt.com.