Web Browsers

Web Browsers can be defined as important “software applications” or simply software programs which enables the countless web pages that are stored in the World Wide Web to be displayed and properly located. NCSA Mosaic was the very first web browser which was developed in 1990 by the National Centre for Super Computing Application.

Types of Web Browsers

On the basis of their functioning, the Web Browsers are divided into several types which are listed below:-

• Text-Based Browsers
• Graphical Browsers
• Gecko-Based Browsers
• KHTML and WebKit Based Browsers

• Browsers for Java Platform
• Current Specialty Browsers
• Discontinued Specialty Browsers

Besides these basic types, there are also some other types of Web Browsers such as Mothra, Opera, Kidz CD, Charon and Ababco.

Importance of Web Browsers

Web Browsers use HTTP or Hyper Text Transfer Protocol to locate web pages from the servers. Again through the HTTP, Web Browsers sends important information to the server itself. HTTP/1.1 is most commonly used. As far as formats are concerned, along with HTML, Web Browsers also support other Format such as PNG and GIF unlike the earlier browsers which supported only ordinary HTML versions.

In addition to all these important features, Web Browsers also enables users to easily access huge amount of information. Web Browsers also properly arrange the displayed HTML information so as to ensure that the appearance of a particular web page may vary from browser to browser.

Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator are the most important and popular Web Browsers.