Browsers 101

Welcome to Browsers 101, a website with very ambitious goals. I hope you find this site as provocative as it is practically useful—when it’s finished, of course. So what is Browsers 101 all about?

Superstars

TM

The second most popular web browser (and the most politicized), Firefox continues to gain ground on Microsoft, especially in nations outside the United States. Though Firefox is an open source program, it’s supported by Internet giant Google.

Produced by a Norwegian corporation, Opera is by far the least popular of the three. Yet many experts rank it #1 in performance, and its popularity could explode on the back of the booming mobile devices market.

Then again, Apple’s Safari browser could be the ultimate winner, its popularity linked to Mac computers, which are also booming.

The race is on, and Microsoft’s “Internet Exploder” is losing ground even among the muddled masses.

The world is reeling from a tidal wave of corporate corruption, perhaps best symbolized by George W. Bush and one of his biggest fans, Bill Gate. Between Homeland Security and Billysoft, the Internet itself is an endangered species. But there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Microsoft is in trouble. Its increasingly ridiculed operating system, Windows, is slowly losing ground to Apple’s OS X and Linux, in spite of every dirty trick Bill Gates, his corporate attorney father and their stable of sleazy lawyers and crooked politicians can dream up. Yet the real stars may be free software programs known as web browsers.

Web browsers rule the Internet. Increasingly versatile, they may even replace operating systems one day. Better yet, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer doesn’t even rank among the top three browsers in terms of quality. The Microsoft monopoly may have won the first round of the Browser Wars, but Round 2 may go to Firefox, Opera or Safari.

Browsers 101 is an online web browser encyclopedia, with both practical information and political content. Whether you want to get the latest scoop on the ongoing Browser Wars or merely want to know how to install and configure a particular browser, this is the place to be.

Note, however, that this site focuses primarily on Firefox, Opera and Safari. If you want to learn how to install or tweak Internet Explorer, you’re out of luck. I pretty much gave up on that sorry excuse for a software program after I upgraded from a PC to a Mac. And, yes, I use all three quality browsers—Firefox, Opera and Safari.

I’m even attempting to take control of my profession by promoting the Big Three browsers on my websites. I lost another profession, education, to Bill Gates and his corporate cronies. But, in the process, I learned how to fight back.

Viva la revoluciôn!

David Blomstrom