BROWSER BASICS - A browser is a software application that connects you to the world wide web.
- PC's come with Microsoft's browser as standard - Internet Explorer
- Apple Macs come with Apple's browser as standard - Safari (also available for PC)
There are several excellent, independent browsers for PC, Apple and Linux including:
- Firefox (by Mozilla, PC & Mac), Chrome (Google, currently PC Only), Opera (PC & Mac)
- Apple Macs come with Apple's browser as standard - Safari (also available for PC)
There are several excellent, independent browsers for PC, Apple and Linux including:
- Firefox (by Mozilla, PC & Mac), Chrome (Google, currently PC Only), Opera (PC & Mac)
WHY USE THE LATEST VERSIONS
Web development techniques are moving on all the time and it is worth keeping up to date with browsers for this reason alone - the newest browsers will give you the fastest and most feature rich browsing experience. Indeed, development methods have changed so much that many newer websites won't work at all on some older browsers
Additionally, new releases often fix security vulnerabilities which could enable malicious software (malware) to infect your computer
Additionally, new releases often fix security vulnerabilities which could enable malicious software (malware) to infect your computer
SO WHAT'S THE FUSS ABOUT IE6?
Released by Microsoft in 2001, ie6 is now very out of date, does not support web development standards and has a lot of unfixed security vulnerabilities. Consequently, all more recent websites need lots of code hacks to make them work on ie6 - sometimes to the detriment of how they work on modern browsers
Ironically, it is precisely because of ie6's poor standards that it remains in use with some corporate's. Company intranet applications were built with lots of 'hacks' to make them work with ie6 when it was the only PC browser To move these applications onto newer browsers would involve a lot of work and some corporations have simply not got around to it. Hence they still keep ie6 on their office PCs.
Another reason some people haven't upgraded is because they have old PCs with old operating systems such as Windows 98 / 2000. It is unfortunate that Microsoft excluded older systems from internet Explorer 7 & 8. If this is your situation, try Firefox
Ironically, it is precisely because of ie6's poor standards that it remains in use with some corporate's. Company intranet applications were built with lots of 'hacks' to make them work with ie6 when it was the only PC browser To move these applications onto newer browsers would involve a lot of work and some corporations have simply not got around to it. Hence they still keep ie6 on their office PCs.
Another reason some people haven't upgraded is because they have old PCs with old operating systems such as Windows 98 / 2000. It is unfortunate that Microsoft excluded older systems from internet Explorer 7 & 8. If this is your situation, try Firefox
DOES THIS SITE SUPPORT IE6?
In a word - No This doesn't mean that the site will not work at all on ie6. However, some aspects may not work depending on the operating system and build of ie6. In particular, the on-line purchasing may display erratically and, given ie6's security vulnerabilities, we would recommend you do not try on-line purchasing with ie6.
Our recommendation is that you upgrade to ie 7 or 8 if you wish to use Microsoft. Otherwise look at any of the browsers listed above (click on them for download links)
Our recommendation is that you upgrade to ie 7 or 8 if you wish to use Microsoft. Otherwise look at any of the browsers listed above (click on them for download links)