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- Feb 11, 2006
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Follow this link to download the LATEST version with bug fixes: Mozilla Firefox Web Browser
Why upgrade your browser?
The Browser
A browser is a piece of software designed to view information on the internet, in the same way that Microsoft Outlook is designed to receive emails and Microsoft Word is designed to help create documents.
Statistics show that at the moment Internet Explorer 6 (released in 2002 and no longer supported by Microsoft) and is still used by a lot of people accessing the Internet.
This is mainly because Microsoft includes Internet Explorer as the default browser in Windows XP and Vista.
If you aren't sure which browser you are currently using, you can click this link to find out which browser you are running
Reasons to upgrade your browser
Now that you know which browser you are running you might be thinking why should I change, or why do I need to update my browser? The simple answer is that you should always update on a regular basis. Some of the reasons are described below:
New versions are more secure
As new threats and new ways to harm your computer via the browser become known, the developers of the browsers have to fix these to keep your computer secure. The only way they can do this is to include these via an update. If you do not update, you do not get a more secure browser leaving you open to attack.
As new threats and new ways to harm your computer via the browser become known, the developers of the browsers have to fix these to keep your computer secure. The only way they can do this is to include these via an update. If you do not update, you do not get a more secure browser leaving you open to attack.
New versions are faster
With the new browser developers battling it out to get the upper hand and get you to use their product one area that has improved leaps and bounds, is the speed that they can process the page (loading the page due to broadband, but how the browser loads the page).
Improved browsing experience
As with the speed issues, browsers are competing with new styling features for webpages that allow designers (such as ourselves) to add elements that were not possible in older versions. An example of this is below, where on a modern browsers the webpage elements would have rounded corners, whereas on an older version such as IE6, they are square.
As with the speed issues, browsers are competing with new styling features for webpages that allow designers (such as ourselves) to add elements that were not possible in older versions. An example of this is below, where on a modern browsers the webpage elements would have rounded corners, whereas on an older version such as IE6, they are square.
Example of rounded corners and some browser differences. IE6 vs FF3.0.7
Apple has really pushed the boat out with Safari 4 and has included no less than 150 new features such as: Full page-zoom, Animations, font embedding and more. It is expected to be released mid 2009.
Not all browsers render the page to look the same
As all browsers handle the web page coding slightly differently, on some rare occasions the web page might look considerably different and may even appear to be broken. It is another good reason to update your browser to the latest version to get a full, rich web experience, shown in the way intended by the designer.
