Web Browsers
A web browser is a software application that enables users to access and interact with content on the World Wide Web. Web pages are usually authored in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), and users may access and see them by typing a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) into the address bar of their browser. Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome are a few examples of well-known online web browsers. To improve user experience and security, these browsers provide features like bookmarks, tabbed browsing, and privacy settings.
Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Name: Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE)
- Developer: Microsoft Corporation
- Initial Release: August 16, 1995 (as part of the add-on package “Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95”)
- Final Version: Internet Explorer 11
- End of Life: June 15, 2022 (for most versions on Windows 10)
- Replaced By: Microsoft Edge (initially EdgeHTML-based, later Chromium-based)
- Once the most popular browser in the world, Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) was a proprietary web browser created by Microsoft. It was closely linked with the Windows platform and pre-installed with Microsoft Windows operating systems.
- This browser was made by Microsoft Corporation and bundled together into the Windows operating system. The latest operating system, Windows, comes with Microsoft’s latest web browser named Internet Explorer 11. Internet Explorer supports HTML 4.01, CSS Level 1, XML 1.0, and DOM Level.
Microsoft Edge
- Developer: Microsoft Corporation
- Initial Release: July 29, 2015 (Windows 10 launch)
- Chromium-Based Version: January 15, 2020
- Rendering Engine: EdgeHTML (2015–2019), Blink (2020–present)
- Current Platform: Chromium (open-source project also used by Google Chrome)
- Cross-Platform Support: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux
- Microsoft designed the Edge web browser with speed, security, and standards compliance in mind. It later replaced Internet Explorer as the default browser in Windows and became a cross-platform, Chromium-based browser.
Mozilla Firefox
- Developer: Mozilla Foundation & Mozilla Corporation
- Initial Release: November 9, 2004
- Programming Languages: C++, JavaScript, Rust, Python, CSS, XUL
- Rendering Engine: Gecko
- JavaScript Engine: SpiderMonkey
- Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
- License: MPL (Mozilla Public License)
- Latest Major Engine Revamp: Quantum Project (2017)
- The Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, Mozilla Corporation, created the free and open-source web browser Mozilla Firefox. People recognize it for being independent of major digital ecosystems like Google and Microsoft, for focusing on privacy, and for being customizable.
Opera
- Developer: Opera Software (headquartered in Oslo, Norway)
- Initial Release: April 1995 (as a research project at Telenor)
- Latest Core Engine: Chromium (Blink)
- Cross-Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
- Opera Software created the multi-platform web browser, making it feature-rich, lightweight, and inventive. It introduced several features that popular browsers later adopted.
Google Chrome
- Developer: Google LLC
- Initial Release: September 2, 2008 (beta); December 11, 2008 (stable)
- Latest Stable Version: Varies by date (updates every ~4 weeks)
- Rendering Engine: Blink (since 2013, originally WebKit)
- JavaScript Engine: V8
- License: Proprietary (Chromium is open-source-based).
- Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, ChromeOS.
- Google created the cross-platform, free web browser known as Google Chrome. Chrome leads the desktop and mobile browser market because of its speed, ease of use, and robust interaction with the Google ecosystem.
