Most computers are now connected to the internet. The PC is no longer the device that is the single most common gateway to the internet. In this context, the browser has achieved importance as the application through which the services in the Information Society can be accessed, and it has become the main platform for a host of commonplace computer activities.

The browser market is still being dominated by Internet Explorer from Microsoft, although it has lately dropped its share of penetration in favor of other competitive browsers, largely Firefox and Safari, but also Opera. Apple has made great efforts to put Safari on the market with a relevant footing, and in fact ot has used its iTunes platform for broadcast on Safari, which has been described as an unlawful practice for other browsers. However, despite its increase in the market share, Safari’s current penetration of 8.23 percent still lags far behind its two main competitors, Explorer and Firefox. It does seem that the complete hegemony Microsoft had once had in the sector since the end of the 1990s, imposed on its rival Netscape, is likely to be broken now.

The traditional function of the browser was to present the information found on servers. Gradually, increasingly complex capabilities were incorporated. What at first were merely minor improvements to their uses, over time have been converted into programs in their own right that often compete with the traditional alternatives. There are currently full fledged office applications that can be run within a browser: word processors, spreadsheets and databases that include more and more features, and that are quite capable of replacing their desktop alternatives for many uses. There are also complex features such as photo editing or video editing, so that the browser, coupled with increasing availability of broadband, is increasingly becoming a platform of reference for computing activities.

In 2008-2009 there were two significant events related to web browsers: 1) Version 3 of the Firefox browser includes a manager that allows online applications to be executed when there is no internet connection; and 2) Google entered the browser market with the launch of Chrome in September. The main difference with this compared to the traditional browsers, is that its internal structure is more like an operating system running web applications, than like a classic web browser. For Chrome, each web page is treated as a different process. In fact, it has a tool for managing these processes that is similar to an operating system (like Windows Task Manager) that allows actions to be uploaded end processes (eg Web pages that do not respond) and finds out the basic system resources usage. All this, which might seem unnecessary for a conventional website, is a great facility for web pages that include online applications (like Gmail, Google Docs, etc.) Chrome also perfectly complements Google Gears, a software that allows some off-line access to services that normally only work online.

Aside from these major browsers, there are a host of prominent yet smaller competitors, in particular Opera, known for its speed, security, support, and its innovative development in the area of browsers designed for the mobile screen.

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Author Bio: Find out more about UDig – who we are, what we do and how we can help you into the IT role you are looking for. Visit our resources page here.

Category: Computers and Technology
Keywords: Business, Technology, Market