Computer Spot

Your computer may have a wide range of software installed, all of which will serve different functions. One of those programs will be the browser that you choose to work with.

Every web page that you go to will be a little different, and some will use embedded media or other tricks to make your browsing experience more rich.

The trouble is that some of the things that pages want to run will need external programs in order for them to be displayed correctly, or for them to be displayed at all. This is where plug-ins come in.

If the content of a web page needs a video application in order to run-for instance a flash video player, it needs to not only call on the application but also get it to run within the web page.

The page itself will tell the browser that it needs the use of this external application, but the browser alone cannot help. It does not know how to open the other application, or even which application is needed.

As a user you have to install the plug-in needed for the content on the page. The page itself will tell you if the plug in is missing and will often direct you to a website where the plug in can be found. Installation is easy, normally requiring that you just click a link and accept the install, before restarting your browser.

When you run the same web page again, it will put out the call the same as before for an external application, but the plug-in rather than the browser will now recognise that call.

It is then able to act as an intermediary between the browser and the external application, causing it to load and be displayed appropriately within.

You could say that the plug-in is the translator for the web page content. It alone understands the call that the web page puts out, and acts on it appropriately. Without the plug-in the browser cannot ‘talk’ to the external software application.

From time to time your browser has to be upgraded, or the other software applications themselves need upgrading. When this happens there is an occasional chance that you will need to re-install the plug-in that allows you to view the content on various pages, but again it is a simple process.

It will be prompted by you visiting a page that contains content that needs the plug in to run, and should not take long on today’s internet download speeds.

There is no need to install plug-ins before they are first needed as they install quickly, but once the time comes there is no way of avoiding it, if you want to see the web page’s content.

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• What Are Browser Plug-Ins (1)

In the early days of the world wide web, there were few browser options for the layman. Browsers were not the intuitive software that they are today, nor were they laden with the number of features available today.

There were two main contenders in the early days: Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer. Many regular internet users-and especially those who were more technically minded, preferred Netscape for it’s rich feature set. Yet it’s dominance did not last.

There were two main reasons for it’s downfall-the latter of which was AOL deciding to no longer update it. But this only occurred when it was already almost extinct. It was Internet Explorer that really did the damage. Read the rest of this entry →

Microsoft has been fighting the battle of the browsers for many years now, and doesn’t seem to be particularly successful till now.

With a lot of competition out there, and with other browsers far more innovative than Internet Explorer (IE), what is Microsoft doing to try and prevent the further erosion of it’s market share?

Ten years ago there was no huge problem for Microsoft in the browser stakes. The amount of competition was small, with one of the main contenders being Netscape. This browser ultimately died out because of falling numbers, but the software at it’s core became IE’s main competition-Mozilla Firefox. Read the rest of this entry →

As technology matures, it always yields better results. Proceeding on similar lines, since the featured web browser from Google, Chrome is still currently in beta form.

You’ll find precious little news on just why Google believes the technology incorporated in Chrome is advancement on the existing web browsers, notably Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and the Mozilla’s Firefox!

There are lot many reasons that may be listed out but here are my Top 10 Reasons to try Google Chrome includes:

1. Open source

I know it sounds strange, and Firefox is open source too, but as a matter of fact, Internet Explorer isn’t! If you don’t know why open source can be a good thing, then you’d better read this…

2. Crash control

Every tab the user opens, runs independently in the browser, consequently if any application crashes it doesn’t take anything else down with it.

So it can be considered to be highly stable, on the other hand I have personally experienced Firefox crashing totally many a times, which is quite annoying! Read the rest of this entry →

Google Chrome has quickly become one of our favorite browsers occupying 1% market share on the very first day, but don’t be overwhelmed with this fact as there are many potential threats involved with the beta version currently.

Although the hot and happening web-browser from Google has barely entered the world, security researchers have been quick enough to find flaws in Chrome, which was supposed to be Google’s shiny foray into the browser market.

Before proceeding with the discussion, you can download the Google chrome beta version here & check it out yourself! Read the rest of this entry →