A browser, pictured above, is simply an application/program that allows you to access and navigate the Internet. The one that will be discussed here was developed by Microsoft, and is called INTERNET EXPLORER 7. There are several others, and most operate in a similar fashion. In order to use a BROWSER and connect to the internet, you must have an ISP (Internet Service Provider). In many arears ISP's offer two kinds of service, DIAL UP (slow and inexpensive) using your phone line, and BROADBAND (fast and more costly). If your reading this on your computer, you have a working internet connection. Broadband (high speed, up to 100 times faster than a dial up), is provided by MEDIACOM, and SBC GLOBAL. They may or maynot service your area.
Note that this particular BROWSER consists of four horizontal bars, you can have more or less, depending on what information you want displayed. The top one in blue is called the TITLE BAR, the second is the ADDRESS BAR, third is the LINKS BAR, and the forth and last is the COMMAND BAR. The following is a discussion of the functions of the BUTTONS on these various BARS.
The three BUTTONS to the extreme right of the TITLE BAR are some of the most frequently used. The red X is used to close a page, and if it's the only page open, it will close the BROWSER also. The middle BUTTON is used to reduce the page size, or to expand it to full size. The left BUTTON with the minus sign make the page disappear, placing it on the task bar for later viewing. This can be very useful if you wanted to view two different pages on the same screen, by using the middle BUTTON on each page to reduce their size to view both at once. To make the pages equal in size, right click next to the clock, and choose one of the tile choices.
