Alternate Browsers
Most home and business computers come with Windows already installed, this means most people use Microsoft Internet Explorer to access the internet. There are however a range of other browsers avaliable to use.
The most popular browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera.
It used to be that the browsers which came with the computer would be the one people use. In recent years though alternative browsers have become more popular due to security reasons, alternative features and speed of browsers.
Innovations with the less popular browsers have meant the market share has become more evenly spread over the past few years. Although tabbed browsing is now avaliable in most browsers this wasn't the case for a long time, browsers such as Firefox, Safari and Opera have been using tabbed browsing for a long time now. Tabbed browsing only appeared, years later, in Internet Explorer 7.
Security issues have also played a large part in the shift of browsers. In the early 2000's around 90% of internet users used Internet Explorer to browse. With no large competition Microsoft rarely updated their browser, meaning it became easier and easier for people to become flooded with viruses, trojan horses, and spyware. Firefox marked itself as being the browser with higher security, offering more protection for its users.
When creating a website it is imperative that the site is compatiable with all the top broswers. Where it used to be that as long as your website worked in Internet Explorer then it was fine this is no longer the case. A site that does not work on any of the broswer means you are potentially losing customers and interest in your site. Often a site will still be viewable if it has not been made compatiable with a browser but the site may not look how it is intended to and therefore gives off an unprofessional image of your company.
The current competition can only be a good thing. With companies trying to make their broswer the best the end result is going to be that all the broswers improve and everyone wins.
