The most common program is Internet Explorer by Microsoft but that is due to the fact that it comes with the Operating System no matter which version of Windows you install (90% of Operating Systems installed on PC’s are Windows!). However there are many other programs available which allow you to view web pages (called web browsers).

Although Internet Explorer is widely used, most others are actually better, programs such as Netscape Navigator, Opera and Safari. The one that I am currently using and that I have found to be the best one so far is the Mozilla FireFox Browser.

There are several benefits from using a different Web Browsing program different from Internet Explorer.

The primary benefit is that the Spammers and Spyware writers take every advantage of every security hole found in Internet Explorer. Unless you are absolutely up to date with every patch from Microsoft then you run a greater risk of Spyware infection (it is widely acknowledged that Windows is not totally safe and you will be infected eventually!)

The second is that FireFox is what is called Open Source, were there is a community of programmers who develop software and make no charge for it, so FireFox is free!

Since using the program the amount of Spyware found on my computer has diminished to point where I check only weekly. Even then there are few if any problems, of course I still check for virus’s as the mainly arrive via email.

So where can you find this great program? Visit http://www.mozilla.org/ and click on the download for your computer, there is a windows version, an Apple Macintosh version as well as for Linux operating systems.

The program is easy to install, just follow the on screen instructions. The program features tabs so you can open many different websites using one program, a feature I find very useful when I am on Ebay! FireFox will also tell you when there are upgrades available, a good feature that not many other programs use. To add extra abilities to the program there are plug-ins available from the Mozilla website. Best of all, the program will block those annoying pop-up windows and has enhanced security to block nasty spyware!

On the whole I find the program more secure and faster when accessing web pages. I have made it my preferred Browsing program so that I am not tempted to use Internet Explorer! If you wish to do this, thn go to the tools menu, select options and take a look, almost at the bottom of the General settings list. You can change Firefox, or another browser of your choice to become your default browser.

As I have previously stated, there are many other browsers available, take a look at http://www.opera.com for the Opera Browser and http://www.netscape.co.uk/netscape/ for Netscape Navigator Version 7, for version 8, which seems to be currently only from US website take a look at http://browser.netscape.com/ns8/

For a large list of available browsers, the Yahoo directory has an extensive selection.

And finally, if you would like a brief history of Web Browsers, then http://www.livinginternet.com/w/wi_browse.htm makes interesting reading.