One of the most common things we experience in our industry today are businesses and users that never upgrade simple free software like web browsers. There are a multitude of different web browsers out there, most people will be familiar with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, or the Macintosh browser Safari. In actuality there are over a dozen other browsers out there, many of them are quite excellent; like Mozilla’s Firefox, which now commands 22% of the browser market (View Source).
It never ceases to amaze us how many people ignore their web browsers upgrade options, would you ignore your car manufacturer if they offered you better safety and new features for free on top of a free upgrade to a better car? of course not. So why should you treat your web browser any differently, like the last oil change you probably skipped it is definitely time to upgrade your web browser. In the past few years web browsers have introduced many new, exciting and useful features that any business or average home user can use to save time, increase productivity and simplify daily routines.
Modern web browsers have all kind of fantastic features hidden under the hood, features like:
Spell Check:
If spelling is not your strong point or you just want to make sure of the accuracy of what you type, Mozilla’s Firefox 3 and Internet Explorer 8 have great built-in spell check feature and thesaurus features. Next time you go to fill out a website form, edit your company news, blog post or add/edit your website through an online Content Manager, you can avoid those embarrassing typos and keep a professional and competent company image.
Tabbed Browsing:
Most new browsers, including Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3, Opera, Google’s Chrome and Safari 4 along with others, all have tabbed browsing. Tabbed browsing allows you to open multiple websites and different pages in tabs all in the same window, allowing you to effortlessly switch back and forth between the different websites you have open. Tabbed browsing makes doing daily tasks like online research, including competitive research, visiting stock trading websites, and reading news sources both faster and easier. This ability to multi-task between your different online applications can save you valuable time, money and increase employee productivity, not to mention make your general surfing habits more exciting. (Power Tip: You can scroll through tabs in most modern browsers by using keyboard shortcuts like ctrl + tab on PC and Mac)
RSS Feed Readers:
RSS or Really Simple Syndication is a type of XML data feed that is used to syndicate up to date content from popular websites, web applications and blogs and more. Modern web browsers like Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3, Opera, Google’s Chrome and Safari 4 have built in RSS reader capabilities that can discover, collect and help you organize these RSS feeds easily by using your bookmarks or favorites folder. You can easily pop open your web browser at any time and instantly view that particular”Feed” for up to date information from a particular website or web application. (Power Tip: Did you know that you can open up multiple bookmarked RSS Feeds at the same time while using Tabbed Browsing!)
If this sounds Greek or geek to you than here is how you can take advantage of RSS. When visiting a website that has an RSS feed, your web browser will figure it out for you! As newer browsers allow you to easily subscribe to almost any RSS feed. Most up to date web browsers have an auto discovery feature which places an orange square with three little white lines inside of it, the now universal symbol for an RSS feed, either within your Address Bar (this is where you type www.) or somewhere near the top of the browser task bar deepening on the browser you are using. Simply click on that orange RSS Feed icon and your web browser will display that news feed and all you have to do is bookmark it and in the future check that bookmark instead of visiting several different websites, blogs or resources each and every day to check if there is new or updated content.
With RSS Feeds and modern browsers the information is pushed to you, delivered via RSS to your browser. Using RSS saves you time, organizes your information resources and allows you to keep on top of what is happening in your industry, with competitors and personal favorites all in a productive and efficient way that any busy professional will appreciate.
Website Compatibility and Advancement:
Older Browsers, particularly IE6 (Internet Explorer 6) do not display your website the same as newer browsers like Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3, Opera, Google’s Chrome or Safari 4 does. For this reason your web developer has to (or should) take this into account when building, upgrading or adding new content to your website. Factoring all the different browsers into account makes the web development process longer and more expensive, as well as places limits on your developers use of new exciting web site design techniques and technologies.
While all browsers have differences some subtle and some not so subtle in how they render content, most of the companies that create web browsers seem to be attempting to standardize the way they interpret the data and content that is provided by websites and online applications. Each time a new browser version like Internet Explorer 8 for example is introduced, it is important that you upgrade. As there are generally fixes, improvements and new features to make everyone’s life a little brighter online not to mention safer. As the market share of older web browsers shrink, developers can abandon testing for these older and decrepit browsers, this will make development of any website or web application faster, cheaper and help maintain the consistency of the look and feel of your website. Not to mention the fact that it will also allow you to add more modern and exciting features to your website that your customers will enjoy, many which are not currently supported by older browsers.
Security
Web browser vendors are always looking to protect their most valuable asset, you. They are constantly adding and refining security features to stop or at the very least hamper hackers and malicious people from getting their grubby hands on your browsing habits, computer and worst yet your identity. It is vital that your browser (and anti-virus for that matter) are up to date and reflect the latest security features and patches. If you are using a browser that is outdated you are running a real risk of being scammed or worse, having your identity stolen.
We cannot stress enough the importance of upgrading your web browser if for no other reason than online security. Do you really want someone in your bank, email, ebay or eTrade account? Perhaps you just applied online for a shiny new credit card, are you SURE that it was a trusted creditor and wasn’t a online phishing scam? More modern browsers have MUCH better protection against these things and although nothing is full proof it is better to be a little ahead of the game than dead last. Especially when it comes to your sensitive personal information.
Plugins & Enhancements
Some web browsers like FireFox 3 offer plugins & enhancements to extend the functionality of their web browsers. These plugins range from the silly addons like “WiiFox 2” to the unbelievably helpful and useful like “Brief 1.2.1“. The best part is you can try all of them, because they are all free! You can try them out with a few simple mouse clicks and if you don’t like them you can disable them just as quickly!
Ready to try something new and improved?
Here are a few of the latest and greatest web browsers out there:
