3. Software for the Internet - Browsers

The most common use of the Internet is to view web pages on the World Wide Web and for this you need a software application called a 'web browser'.

A web browser will take in all the data coming down from the web site and convert it into a format you can see (or listen to). After all, a web page is made up of many pieces of data - text, images, video, sound. The job of the browser is to 'render' the page into the correct format.

There are many browsers available, most of which are free or built into the operating system.

For instance,

• Firefox
• Internet Explore
• Google Chrome

There are also text-only web browsers. Such as the Lynx viewer. These are very useful for people who can't see so well or do not want to see graphics.