Browser

A software program that allows a person to explore the Internet in an easy to use way. Navigating the Internet through a series of links the user can browse the Internet. Examples of popular browsers are Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Opera. The picture is of the Google Chrome browser and a good example of a browser.

Each browser has a navigation toolbar, like the ones shown below that help also illustrate how the Internet browser toolbar has changed over the history of Internet browsers. This navigation bar is the most essential portion of the browser and will always at least contain the Back arrows and address bar.

Overview of browser bar buttons and options

As can be seen by the above picture, over the evolution of the Internet browser the buttons and options have changed. With this in mind, understand that some of the options mentioned below may not be visible in your browser.

Back - Used to visit the previous page that referred you to the page you are currently located at. This button is the button you'll use most while browsing on the Internet and as shown above is a large arrow pointing to the left.

• Why does my Internet back button sometimes not work?
• Creating an HTML back button.

Forward - Like the back button this button moves you forward a page, if you have gone back first. If you have not gone back and your browser shows a forward button, it will be grayed out, as shown above.

• Tip: Hold down the Ctrl key while pressing the left arrow to go back or the right arrow to go forward.

Stop - Stop the loading of a website, this button may need to be used if the page is taking too long to load or encountering problems.

• Tip: Press their esc key at any time to stop loading a page.

Refresh (Reload) - Most Internet browsers cache web pages, so you do not have to download the full page each time you visit the same site. On some pages, you may want to refresh the browser to get the latest version. This button can also be used to reload a page that has been aborted because of an error.

• Tip: Press the F5 key or Ctrl + R to refresh the page from the keyboard.

Home - Go back to your default web page. This is the same page that loads when your browser loads.

• How to change my browser's home page.
• How to make Computer Hope your home page.

Search - Open your default search page or search for text found in the Address or URL text field. Today's browser have a search bar integrated into the search engine and can also use the address bar as a search bar.

Favorites - View or visit a website in your favorites list. The term "Favorites" is used with Microsoft Internet Explorer, in other browsers this may be known as book marks or a hotlist.

Print - Print the page you're visiting. If you don't see a print button, it can also be accessed by clicking on the "File" drop down menu or pressing Ctrl + P on the keyboard.

Font (Size) - Increase or Decrease the size of a font.

• Tip: Holding down the Ctrl key and pressing either the + or - on the top of the keyboard also increases and decreases the font.

Mail - Open your e-mail program.

Edit - Edit the web page you are currently viewing in an HTML editor. Today, no longer found in browsers.

Full Screen - Make the browser window full screen removing all of the toolbars. Often this option is entered and exited by pressing the F11 key on your keyboard.

History - View the history of pages that have been visited since the browser history was last cleared or created.

• Tip: The shortcut key for history for most browsers is Ctrl+H.

Software

Sometimes abbreviated as SW and S/W, software is a collection of instructions that enable the user to interact with a computer or have it perform specific tasks for them. Without software, computers would be useless. For example, without your Internet browser software you would be unable to surf the Internet or read this page and without a software operating system the browser would not be able to run on your computer. In the picture is a Microsoft Excel software box and an example of a software program.

How do you get software?

Software can be purchased at a local retail computer store or online, usually in a box that contains all the disks (floppy diskette, CD, DVD, or Blu-ray) required for the program, manuals, warranty, and other necessary documentation.

Software can also be downloaded to a computer over the Internet. Once downloaded, setup files can be run to start the installation of the program on your computer.

Free software

In addition to purchasing software, there are also millions of free software programs available that are broken into different types of categories.

• Shareware or trial software is software that gives you a few days to try the software before you buy the program. After the trial time expires you'll be asked to enter a code or to register the product before you can continue to use it.
• Freeware is completely free software that never requires payment as long as its not modified.
• Open source software is like freeware but not only is the program given away, but the source code used to make the program is as well, allowing anyone to modify the program or view how it was created.

How is software created?

A computer programmer or several computer programmers write the instructions using a programming language that tell the software how to work. Once the program has been completed it is compiled into a language that the computer can understand.

Spyware

1. Spyware is a term used to describe a software program that is intentionally installed on a computer by to monitor what other users of the same computer are doing.

2. A term used to describe a software program that has been designed to secretly gather information about a user's activity. Spyware programs are often used to track users' habits in order to better target them with advertisements. Spyware is usually installed onto a user's machine without their knowledge when downloading free music sharing programs, visiting adult oriented web pages, and through other downloads and plug-ins on the Internet.