FREE online courses on Internet Network of Networks - World wide Web - Using a Web Browser

The client program that you use to access the Web is called a Web browser. The two most popular browsers are Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator.

Internally, Web browsers are incredibly complex programs. They support a plethora of standards that govern everything from how to transfer a Web page using HTTP to how to display a document with HTML to how to secure a transaction using SSL. Externally, however, Web browsers are extremely easy to use. To get you up and running, take a look at the capabilities you find in almost every Web browser:

l  Browsing URLs: Each Web browser provides the same methods for opening a Web page. You can click a link, type the URL of the Web page in the Address Bar, use the menu, pick a site from your list of favourites, and so on.

l  Toolbar buttons: Most Web browsers provide the same buttons in their toolbars.

l  History Lists: Your browser keeps three different history lists. First, it keeps a list of all the Web pages you've visited during the current session; you can move forward and backward through this list using the Forward and Back buttons. 

     Second, it keeps a history of all the Web pages you've opened by typing their URLs in the Address Bar. You see this list by clicking the arrow next to the Address Bar. Third, it keeps a separate list of every Web page you've visited.

l  Printing, Saving, and Sending: Your Web browser provides a number of ways to keep a copy of a Web page. You can print it. You can save the page to your disk. You can also send a page or a link to a page to someone else via Internet mail.

l  Bookmarking Your Favourites: The Web contains millions upon millions of Web pages. Your browser makes it easier to go back to your favourite pages by allowing you to put links to those pages in a bookmarks or favourites list.

l  Offline Browsing: A recent innovation is offline browsing. You specify parameters for a Web search and download the content to your computer while you're not using it. Then, you can browse that content while you're not connected to the Internet. Because you don't have to wait for pages to download before your eyes, offline browsing makes the whole Web searching experience seem faster.

l  Channel Support: The latest browsers support channel casting. With channel casting, you subscribe to a channel, and the publisher determines the amount of content and the schedule on which the content is updated on your computer. Then, you can view that content offline.

l  Customisation: Early browsers allowed you very little Customisation. These days you can customize everything, though. You can change your start page. You can customize the location, size and contents of your toolbars.

 

World Wide Web has many applications from selling products and wares on internet to disseminating information to providing support for various services. You can send faxes, talk with people using Internet Phone, watch movies and listen to music. You can also read books from the online libraries.