Browsers I

The Browser(s) I    The Browser(s) II    The Browser(s) III

Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE)
Note:  if you use Netscape, I will be building IBT Browser Pages for you soon.

Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Communicator, Opera, Star Office5.1, Mosaic, and others....

Where to start?  Hmmm....well, MSIE and NS are the two most popular browsers.  Having said that, I must tell you that they are the same, and different.  Some of the terminology is different.  For example, MSIE uses "Favorites" while NS uses "Bookmarks" for saving/book marking your favorite web pages.

MSIE and NS "view" or "see" web pages differently too.  You may not even notice this at first but there are major differences between them.  For a "newbie" to the internet, these differences can be confusing.  So, for now, just be aware that there are differences and as we go along in our I B T...I'll try to point out some of the major differences.

Lets start out by defining a browser.  A browser is an application (program) that allows us to view web pages on the Internet.  Most of the web pages that we will be viewing are on the thing called the World Wide Web (WWW.)

So, you might wonder where do you get a browser?   Well, that's easy.  You can get MSIE or NS FREE...by downloading them from the internet at: Microsoft Internet Explorer Home Page or Netscape Communicator Home Page  Yikes....FREE?  Yes, its true...free.  Or, you can order a CD-ROM version of either/both browsers from their respective web sites for a nominal fee.  NS is $4.95 plus shipping and handling and MSIE is slightly more at $6.95 plus shipping.  Or, if you buy a new computer, chances are that it will come with a browser...most likely MSIE. Also, you can have a browser (of your choice) installed by the computer manufacturer/or dealer where you purchase your computer.

You might be asking yourself..."Are there other Browsers out that I can use?"

Yes...Opera is a fairly popular browser (with fewer features than the "big two") and there are others too. Go to CNET's Download.com, click on Internet, click on Browsers, and you will see a list as well as descriptions of the "other" browsers.

Ok...here we go....let's look at some browsers and discuss the features/buttons etc. associated with them.  Notice that the browser is actually a "window" and has all of the "Windows" characteristics and can be minimized, maximized, resized, and reshaped too.

Notice that the "gray" and "dark blue" area is the actual browser while the "green" stuff is an actual "live" web page. The browser, as you will recall, is just a computer application (program) that allows us to "view" web pages on the internet.

Let's focus on the top part of the browser for a while...a/k/a "the bars."

The dark blue "bar" on top is called the Title Bar

It contains the name of the web page that we are viewing right now..."Welcome to inette.com - a NE Wisconsin Portal Web Site" as well as the name of the application - "Microsoft Internet Explorer".  On the right side of the Title Bar are three "buttons"...standard in most "Windows"...windows.  The "minus" sign will minimize the browser window to the task bar (the gray bar at the bottom of your computer screen.)  The middle button will resize your browser window to the last "size" that is was "resized to..." (Got that figured out?)  And finally, the "X" button or the "eXit" button or the "close this application" button.   Click it and the application will close.

Next is the Menu Bar

It contains a "menu" or list of "words",  options... thus...menus.   E.G.:  File, Edit, View, Go, Favorites, and, of course, Help.   We can access these menus by pointing our mouse pointer at one of them and left   clicking once.  Let's left click on "File."  A "drop down menu" appears.

Note:  The things that you might do from this menu are:  Print the page that you are "viewing" or Save the page (Save As.)   Note also that below the word "Properties" is a list of the most recent web pages that I have accessed...7 on my list... with the current page "aibtbrowsers" being the one that is currently showing on my browser.

To close a "drop down menu", simply left click anywhere outside of the (gray) dropdown menu (but not on a link or a new page will open in your browser and you may get confused.)

Now let's left click (once) on the View menu then "point" your mouse pointer to Toolbars... Note that another menu "pops up."...it's the "submenu" of the "Toolbars" menu.  The checkmark indicates which Toolbars that I have "on" right now...on my browser.  To turn off one of the toolbars, simply left click once on the toolbar that you want to "turn off."

Once again, to "close" the menu, simply left click your mouse anywhere outside of the menu and it will disappear.

Now let's focus on the next "toolbar"...the Navigation tool bar

Notice that the first "button" on the "Navigation Toolbar" is the "Back" button.  I'll explain that later.  Notice also that the "Forward" button is not...hmmm, well..."lit up?"  It's not "dark black" like the "Back" button but it's...light gray.  That means it not accessible right now because I haven't clicked the back button on a web page recently so I can't go "Forward" to it.  I know, it sounds a little confusing but...it will be perfectly clear when we've been to lots of web pages and have clicked the "Back" button at least once.

The next button is the "Stop" button.   If you start downloading a web page and change your mine, just left click the "Stop" button.  If you really want to see a web page that you clicked on but the computer/browser is having "trouble" downloading that page, or if the page doesn't download completely, left click (once) the "Refresh" button and the web page will "Reload...download."  If you want to get back to the "Home" or "Start" page on your browser, just left click the "Home" button once and the browser will take you back...HOME!  I'll skip the "Search" button for now and get to the "good stuff...."....the "Address" "Text Box."

Notice the white rectangle...or "text box" with the web page address (URL...Uniform Resource Locator) of http://www.inette.com?  Well, that's my web page address (URL.)  And, it's standard URL stuff.  FYI....http stands for hyper text markup language...the language of the Internet, and "www" stands for World Wide Web.  This if followed by: "://"  then my URL (only one in the entire world...it's also called a "domain name."  Mine is:   inette.com.  I bought it for a modest fee and it's unique on the World Wide Web and no one else can have the same URL.  The "com" means it's a commercial web page.  Some others are"  edu = educational, gov - government, .org - organizations, and there are others too.

Well, looks like this page is long enough so...I'll ask you to click here to go to the next "browser" page or left click on Browsers II in the IBT Pages links list below.

The Browser(s) I    The Browser(s) II    The Browser(s) III

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Copyright © 1999 - 2002 Lloyd Cook, E-mail: coach at cybrzn dot com
Adjunct Instructor - Computers/Accounting - NWTC-Marinette
BS Managerial Accounting - UWGB
5-Year Teaching Certificate - Wisconsin Technical College System
Certified Accelerated Learning Facilitator
Certified Webmaster and Member of The HTML Writers' Guild (HWG),
International Webmasters Association (IWA), and The Internet Society (ISOC)
Web Designer/Digital Photographer - visit A Crane Project for more information
Last Updated Sunday, October 06, 2002 Home

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