| Revision as of 12:05, 3 December 2012 view sourceMaterialscientist (talk | contribs)Edit filter managers, Autopatrolled, Checkusers, Administrators1,994,292 editsm Protected Web browser: Persistent vandalism ( (expires 12:05, 3 March 2013 (UTC)) (expires 12:05, 3 March 2013 (UTC)))← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 21:53, 9 January 2025 view source Winderz IoT (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users2,662 edits →History: Win 10 was released with what is now known as Edge Legacy, although it was previously known as simply Edge in 2015, Chromium based Edge wasn't released until 2020Tag: Manual revert | ||
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| {{Short description|Software used to access websites}} | |||
| {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2012}} | |||
| {{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}} | |||
| ] according to ].]] | |||
| {{Use American English|date=October 2022}} | |||
| {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}} | |||
| ]) displaying a ]]] | |||
| A '''web browser''' is an ] for accessing ]s. When a ] requests a ] from a particular website, the browser retrieves its ] from a ] and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on a range of devices, including ], ]s, ], and ]s. By 2020, an estimated 4.9 billion people had used a browser.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm|title=World Internet Users Statistics and 2019 World Population Stats|website=www.internetworldstats.com|access-date=11 November 2019}}</ref> The ] browser is ], with a 67% global market share on all devices, followed by ] with 18%.<ref name="statcounter">{{cite web |title=Browser Market Share Worldwide |url=https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share |access-date=3 October 2024 |publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
| {{internet}} | |||
| A web browser is not the same thing as a ], though the two are often confused.<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4MwTvtyrUQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/o4MwTvtyrUQ| archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=What is a Browser? |date=30 April 2009 |publisher=Google (on YouTube) |quote=Less than 8% of people who were interviewed on this day knew what a browser was.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://blog.mozilla.org/en/internet-culture/mozilla-explains/internet-search-engine-browser/ |title=What is the difference between the internet, browsers, search engines and websites? |date=17 June 2021|publisher=Mozilla |quote=Let’s start by breaking down the differences between the internet, browsers, search engine, and websites. Lots of us get these four things confused with each other.}}</ref> A search engine is a website that provides ] to other websites. However, to connect to a website's server and display its web pages, a user must have a web browser installed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Manasa |first=D. |date=19 July 2011 |title=Difference Between Search Engine and Browser |url=https://www.differencebetween.net/technology/internet/difference-between-search-engine-and-browser/ |website=differencebetween.net}}</ref> In some technical contexts, browsers are referred to as ]s. | |||
| A ''' browser''' is a ] for retrieving, presenting and traversing information resources on the ]. An ''information resource'' is identified by a ] (URI) and may be a ], image, video or other piece of content.<ref>{{cite web | |||
| |url=http://www.w3.org/TR/webarch/#id-resources | |||
| |title=URI/Resource Relationships | |||
| |work=Architecture of the World Wide Web, Volume One | |||
| |last=Jacobs | |||
| |first=Ian | |||
| |coauthors=Walsh, Norman | |||
| |publisher=] | |||
| |date=15 December 2004 | |||
| |accessdate=30 June 2009 | |||
| }}</ref> ] present in resources enable users easily to navigate their ]rs to related resources. | |||
| A web browser can also be defined as an ] or program designed to enable users to access, retrieve and view documents and other resources on the Internet. | |||
| ==Function== | |||
| Although browsers are primarily intended to use the World Wide Web, they can also be used to access information provided by ] in ] or files in ]. | |||
| ] using a web browser (])]] | |||
| <!-- The examples below are listed alphabetically. Please keep them that way. --> | |||
| The major web browsers are ], ], ], ], and ].<ref>{{cite web | |||
| |url=http://mashable.com/follow/topics/browser/ | |||
| |title=Browser | |||
| |publisher=] | |||
| |accessdate=2 September 2011 | |||
| }}</ref> | |||
| The purpose of a web browser is to fetch content and ] it on the user's device.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reference.com/humanities-culture/purpose-browser-e61874e41999ede|title=What Is the Purpose of a Web Browser?|date=4 August 2015}}</ref> This process begins when the user inputs a ] (URL), such as ''<code><nowiki>https://en.wikipedia.org/</nowiki></code>'', into the browser. Virtually all URLs on ] start with either ''<code>http:</code>'' or ''<code>https:</code>'' which means they are retrieved with the ] (HTTP). For ] (HTTPS), the connection between the browser and ] is ], providing a ] and ] data transfer.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/HTTP-Hypertext-Transfer-Protocol|title=What is HTTP and how does it work? Hypertext Transfer Protocol Definition|website=WhatIs.com}}</ref> | |||
| ==History== | |||
| {{main|History of the web browser}} | |||
| Web pages usually contain ]s to other pages and resources. Each link contains a URL, and when it is ] or ], the browser navigates to the new resource. Most browsers use an internal ] of web page resources to improve loading times for subsequent visits to the same page. The cache can store many items, such as large images, so they do not need to be downloaded from the server again. Cached items are usually only stored for as long as the web server stipulates in its HTTP response messages.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Nguyen |first1=Hoai Viet |last2=Lo Iacono |first2=Luigi |last3=Federrath |first3=Hannes |chapter=Systematic Analysis of Web Browser Caches |date=2018-10-03 |title=Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Web Studies |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1145/3240431.3240443 |series=WS.2 2018 |location=New York, NY, USA |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |pages=64–71 |doi=10.1145/3240431.3240443 |isbn=978-1-4503-6438-6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mishra |first1=Vikas |last2=Laperdrix |first2=Pierre |last3=Rudametkin |first3=Walter |last4=Rouvoy |first4=Romain |date=2021-04-01 |title=Déjà vu: Abusing Browser Cache Headers to Identify and Track Online Users |url=https://petsymposium.org/popets/2021/popets-2021-0033.php |journal=Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies |language=en |volume=2021 |issue=2 |pages=391–406 |doi=10.2478/popets-2021-0033 |issn=2299-0984|hdl=20.500.12210/57495 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> | |||
| The first web browser was invented in 1990 by Sir ]. It was called ] (no spaces) and was later renamed Nexus.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/WorldWideWeb.html |title=Tim Berners-Lee: WorldWideWeb, the first Web client |publisher=W3.org |accessdate=2011-12-07}}</ref> | |||
| ===Privacy=== | |||
| ] inventor of Netscape]] | |||
| {{Further|Web tracking}} | |||
| During the course of browsing, ] received from various ]s are stored by the browser. Some of them contain login credentials or site preferences.<ref name="tom's guide">{{cite web |title=Tracking Cookies: What They Are, and How They Threaten Your Privacy |date=16 September 2013 |url=https://www.tomsguide.com/us/-tracking-cookie-definition,news-17506.html |publisher=Tom's Guide |access-date=11 March 2019}}</ref> However, others are used for tracking user behavior over long periods of time, so browsers typically provide a section in the menu for deleting cookies.<ref name="tom's guide"/> Finer-grained management of cookies usually requires a ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Alternatives to Cookie AutoDelete extension |url=https://alternativeto.net/software/cookie-autodelete/ |publisher=AlternativeTo |access-date=11 March 2019}}</ref> | |||
| In 1993, browser software was further innovated by ] with the release of ] (later ]), "the world's first popular browser",<ref name="bloomberg">{{cite news|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/video/67758394 |title=Bloomberg Game Changers: Marc Andreessen |publisher=Bloomberg |date=17 March 2011 |accessdate=2011-12-07}}</ref> which made the World Wide Web system easy to use and more accessible to the average person. Andreesen's browser sparked the internet boom of the 1990s.<ref name="bloomberg" /> The introduction of Mosaic in 1993 – one of the first graphical web browsers – led to an explosion in web use. Andreessen, the leader of the Mosaic team at NCSA, soon started his own company, named ], and released the Mosaic-influenced ] in 1994, which quickly became the world's most popular browser, accounting for 90% of all web use at its peak (see ]). | |||
| ==History== | |||
| ] responded with its ] in 1995, also heavily influenced by Mosaic, initiating the industry's first ]. Bundled with ], Internet Explorer gained dominance in the web browser market; Internet Explorer usage share peaked at over 95% by 2002.<ref name="searchenginejournal.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.searchenginejournal.com/mozilla-firefox-internet-browser-market-share-gains-to-74/1082/ |title=Mozilla Firefox Internet Browser Market Share Gains to 7.4% |publisher=Search Engine Journal |date=24 November 2004 |accessdate=2011-12-07}}</ref> | |||
| {{Main|History of the web browser}} | |||
| The first web browser, called ], was created in 1990 by Sir ].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/WorldWideWeb.html |title=Tim Berners-Lee: WorldWideWeb, the first Web client |publisher=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://livinginternet.com/w/wi_browse.htm |title=Web Browser History |last=Stewart| first=William |archive-date=20 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110120213137/http://www.livinginternet.com/w/wi_browse.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> He then recruited ] to write the ], which displayed web pages on ].<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last1=Gillies |first1=James |last2=Cailliau |first2=R. |url=https://archive.org/details/howwebwasbornsto00gill|title=How the Web was Born: The Story of the World Wide Web |publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2000|isbn=0192862073 |pages=|url-access=registration}}</ref> The ] web browser was released in April 1993, and was later credited as the first web browser to find mainstream popularity.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Calore |first=Michael |date=2010-04-22 |title=April 22, 1993: Mosaic Browser Lights Up Web With Color, Creativity |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2010/04/0422mosaic-web-browser/ |access-date=2022-10-31 |issn=1059-1028}}</ref><ref name="bloomberg">{{cite news |date=17 March 2011 |title=Bloomberg Game Changers: Marc Andreessen |publisher=Bloomberg |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/video/67758394 |access-date=7 December 2011}}</ref> Its innovative ] made the ] easy to navigate and thus more accessible to the average person. This, in turn, sparked the Internet boom of the 1990s, when the Web grew at a very rapid rate.<ref name="bloomberg" /> The lead developers of Mosaic then founded the ] corporation, which released the Mosaic-influenced ] in 1994. Navigator quickly became the ] browser.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mwdwebsites.com/nj-web-design-web-browsers.html|title=The Evolution of the Web Browsers|last=Enzer|first=Larry|date=31 August 2018|website=Monmouth Web Developers|access-date=31 August 2018|archive-date=31 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831174847/https://www.mwdwebsites.com/nj-web-design-web-browsers.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| ] for ], released in 1991, was the first web browser.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livinginternet.com/w/wi_browse.htm|title=Web Browser History|last=Stewart|first=William|accessdate = 5 May 2009}}</ref>]] | |||
| ] debuted ] in 1995, leading to a ] with Netscape. Within a few years, Microsoft gained a dominant position in the browser market for two reasons: it bundled Internet Explorer with its popular ] ] and did so as ] with no restrictions on usage. The market share of Internet Explorer peaked at over 95% in the early 2000s.<ref name="searchenginejournal.com">{{cite news |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/mozilla-firefox-internet-browser-market-share-gains-to-74/1082/ |title=Mozilla Firefox Internet Browser Market Share Gains to 7.4% | first=Loren | last=Baker | work=Search Engine Journal |date=24 November 2004}}</ref> In 1998, Netscape launched what would become the ] to create a new browser using the ] model. This work evolved into the ] browser, first released by Mozilla in 2004. Firefox's market share peaked at 32% in 2010.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Routley|first=Nick|date=20 January 2020|title=Internet Browser Market Share (1996–2019)|url=https://www.visualcapitalist.com/internet-browser-market-share/|access-date=4 November 2021|website=Visual Capitalist|language=en-US}}</ref> ] released its ] browser in 2003; it remains the dominant browser on Apple devices, though it did not become popular elsewhere.<ref name="browsershare">{{cite web|title=StatCounter August 2011 data|url=http://gs.statcounter.com/#browser-ww-monthly-201108-201108-bar|access-date=8 May 2021}}</ref> | |||
| ] debuted in 1996; although it has never achieved widespread use, having less than 2% browser usage share as of February 2012 according to Net Applications.<ref name="browsershare" /> Its Opera-mini version has an additive share, in April 2011 amounting to 1.1% of overall browser use, but focused on the fast-growing mobile phone web browser market, being preinstalled on over 40 million phones. It is also available on several other ]s, including ]'s ] video game console. | |||
| ] debuted its ] browser in 2008, which steadily took market share from Internet Explorer and became the most popular browser in 2012.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://digitaltrends-uploads-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/2011/09/net-applications-browser-market.jpg |title=Internet Explorer usage to plummet below 50 percent by mid-2012 | work=] | date=3 September 2011 | format=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=StatCounter April-May 2012 data |url=https://gs.statcounter.com/#browser-ww-monthly-201204-201205 |access-date=8 May 2021}}</ref> Chrome has ] ever since.<ref name="statcounter" /> By 2015, Microsoft replaced Internet Explorer with ]] for the ] release.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gibbs |first=Samuel |date=2018-03-19 |title=Windows 10: Microsoft is looking to force people to use its Edge browser |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/19/windows-10-microsoft-force-people-edge-browser-windows-mail-chrome-firefox |access-date=2024-07-28 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> | |||
| In 1998, Netscape launched what was to become the ] in an attempt to produce a competitive browser using the ] software model. That browser would eventually evolve into ], which developed a respectable following while still in the ] stage of development; shortly after the release of Firefox 1.0 in late 2004, Firefox (all versions) accounted for 7% of browser use.<ref name="searchenginejournal.com" /> As of August 2011, Firefox has a 28% usage share.<ref name="browsershare">http://gs.statcounter.com/#browser-ww-monthly-201108-201108-bar</ref> | |||
| Since the early 2000s, browsers have greatly expanded their ], ], ], and ] capabilities. One reason has been to enable more sophisticated websites, such as ]. Another factor is the significant increase of ] connectivity in ] of the world, enabling people to access data-intensive content, such as ] ] on ], that was not possible during the era of ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Dial-Up Internet Today: Understanding Its Lasting Influence |url=https://simeononsecurity.com/articles/modem-magic_-how-dial-up-internet-works-and-its-legacy-today/ |website=SimeonOnSecurity |access-date=21 February 2024}}</ref> | |||
| ]'s ] had its first beta release in January 2003; as of April 2011, it had a dominant share of Apple-based web ], accounting for just over 7% of the entire browser market.<ref name="browsershare" /> | |||
| == Browser market == | |||
| The most recent major entrant to the browser market is ], first released in September 2008. Chrome's take-up has increased significantly year on year, by doubling its usage share from 8% to 16% by August 2011. This increase seems largely to be at the expense of Internet Explorer, whose share has tended to decrease from month to month.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/internet-explorer-usage-to-plummet-below-50-percent-by-mid-2012/attachment/net-applications-browser-market/ |title=Internet Explorer usage to plummet below 50 percent by mid-2012 |date=3 September 2011 |accessdate=4 September 2011}}</ref> In December 2011, {{Clarification needed span|Chrome overtook ] as the most widely used web browser.|When defining a web browser as a version of a web browser, or what?|date=May 2012}} However, when all versions of Internet Explorer are put together, IE is still most popular.<ref>{{cite news | |||
| {{See also|Usage share of web browsers}} | |||
| |url=http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/16/technology/chrome_internet_explorer/?source=cnn_bin | |||
| |title=CNN Money claims that Chrome is more popular than IE8 | |||
| |publisher=CNN | |||
| |accessdate=19 December 2011 | |||
| |date=16 December 2011 | |||
| }}</ref> | |||
| ] has been the dominant browser since the mid-2010s and currently has a 67% global market share on all devices.<ref name="statcounter"/> The vast majority of its ] comes from Google's ] ] project;<ref>{{cite web|url= https://blog.chromium.org/2008/09/welcome-to-chromium_02.html|title= Welcome to Chromium|author=((Google))|date=2 September 2008 |access-date=28 April 2021}}</ref> this code is also the basis for ] browsers, including ], currently in third place with about a 5% share,<ref name="statcounter"/> as well as ] and ] in fifth and sixth places respectively with over 2% market share each.<ref name="statcounter"/> | |||
| ==Function== | |||
| The primary purpose of a web browser is to bring information resources to the user ("retrieval" or "fetching"), allow them to view the information ("display", "rendering"), and then access other information ("navigation", "following links"). | |||
| This process begins when the user inputs a ] (URL), for example ''<nowiki>http://en.wikipedia.org/</nowiki>'', into the browser. The prefix of the URL, the Uniform Resource Identifier or ], determines how the URL will be interpreted. The most commonly used kind of URI starts with ''http:'' and identifies a resource to be Retrieved over the ] (HTTP).<ref>{{cite web | title = Browser Information | publisher = DBF | url = http://downloadbrowserfree.com/ | accessdate = 2012-06-07}}</ref> Many browsers also support a variety of other prefixes, such as ''https:'' for ], ''ftp:'' for the ], and ''file:'' for ]. Prefixes that the web browser cannot directly handle are often handed off to another application entirely. For example, ''mailto:'' URIs are usually passed to the user's default e-mail application, and ''news:'' URIs are passed to the user's default newsgroup reader. | |||
| In the case of ''http'', ''https'', ''file'', and others, once the resource has been Retrieved the web browser will display it. ] and associated content (image files, formatting information such as ], etc.) is passed to the browser's ] to be transformed from ] to an interactive document, a process known as "rendering". Aside from HTML, web browsers can generally display any kind of content that can be part of a web page. Most browsers can display images, audio, video, and ] files, and often have ] to support ] applications and ]. Upon encountering a file of an unsupported type or a file that is set up to be downloaded rather than displayed, the browser prompts the user to save the file to disk. | |||
| The other two browsers in the top four are made from different ]s. ], based on ]'s ] code, is the second most popular web browser and is dominant on Apple devices, resulting in an 18% global share.<ref name="statcounter"/> ], in fourth place, with about 3% market share,<ref name="statcounter"/> is based on ]'s code. Both of these codebases are open-source, so a number of small niche browsers are also made from them. | |||
| Information resources may contain ] to other information resources. Each link contains the URI of a resource to go to. When a link is clicked, the browser navigates to the resource indicated by the link's target URI, and the process of bringing content to the user begins again. | |||
| ==Features== | ==Features== | ||
| {{merge from|Home page#Browser start page|section=yes|discuss=Talk:Web_browser#Browser start page|date=December 2024}} | |||
| {{details|Comparison of web browsers}} | |||
| Available web browsers range in features from minimal, text-based user interfaces with bare-bones support for HTML to rich user interfaces supporting a wide variety of file formats and protocols. Browsers which include additional components to support e-mail, ] news, and ] (IRC), are sometimes referred to as "]" rather than merely "web browsers".<ref>{{cite web | |||
| |url=http://www.seamonkey-project.org/ | |||
| |title=The SeaMonkey Project | |||
| |publisher=] | |||
| |date=7 November 2008 | |||
| |accessdate=30 June 2009 | |||
| }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | |||
| |url=http://www.cyberdog.org/ | |||
| |title=Cyberdog: Welcome to the 'doghouse! | |||
| |date=5 July 2009 | |||
| |accessdate=30 June 2009 | |||
| }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | |||
| |url=http://www.opus.co.tt/dave/internet.htm | |||
| |title=Interesting DOS programs | |||
| |author=Teelucksingh, Dev Anand | |||
| |publisher=Opus Networkx | |||
| |accessdate=30 June 2009 | |||
| }}</ref> | |||
| The most popular browsers share many ] in common. They automatically log users' ], unless the users turn off their browsing history or use the non-logging ]. They also allow users to set ], customize the browser with ], and can manage user ]s.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Balaban |first=David|date=17 February 2021|title=Password Manager Comparison: Top Password Managers for 2021|url=https://www.eweek.com/search-engines/comparing-in-browser-based-commercial-password-managers/|access-date=4 November 2021|website=eWEEK|language=en-US}}</ref> Some provide a sync service<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ioannou |first1=Pantelina |last2=Athanasopoulos |first2=Elias |chapter=Been Here Already? Detecting Synchronized Browsers in the Wild |date=2023-07-01 |title=2023 IEEE 8th European Symposium on Security and Privacy (EuroS&P) |chapter-url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10190548 |publisher=IEEE |pages=913–927 |doi=10.1109/EuroSP57164.2023.00058 |isbn=978-1-6654-6512-0}}</ref> and ] features.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-17 |title=Accessibility: What users can do to browse more safely - Accessibility {{!}} MDN |url=https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Accessibility/Accessibility:_What_users_can_to_to_browse_safely |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=developer.mozilla.org |language=en-US}}</ref> | |||
| All major web browsers allow the user to open multiple information resources at the same time, either in different browser windows or in different ] of the same window. Major browsers also include ] to prevent unwanted windows from "popping up" without the user's consent.<ref>{{cite web | |||
| |url=http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457150.aspx#EEAA | |||
| |title=Part 5: Enhanced Browsing Security | |||
| |work=Changes to Functionality in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 | |||
| |last=Andersen | |||
| |first=Starr | |||
| |coauthors=Abella, Vincent | |||
| |publisher=] | |||
| |date=15 September 2004 | |||
| |accessdate=30 June 2009 | |||
| }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | |||
| |url=http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Pop-up+blocker | |||
| |title=Pop-up blocker | |||
| |publisher=] | |||
| |accessdate=30 June 2009 | |||
| }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | |||
| |url=http://www.mactipsandtricks.com/tips/display.lasso?mactip=137 | |||
| |title=Safari: Using The Pop-Up Blocker | |||
| |work=Mac Tips and Tricks | |||
| |publisher=WeHostMacs | |||
| |year=2004 | |||
| |accessdate=30 June 2009 | |||
| }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | |||
| |url=http://www.opera.com/browser/tutorials/settings/#tabs | |||
| |title=Simple settings | |||
| |work=Opera Tutorials | |||
| |publisher=] | |||
| |accessdate=30 June 2009 | |||
| }}</ref> | |||
| ] features above page content.]] | |||
| Most web browsers can display a list of web pages that the user has '']'' so that the user can quickly return to them. Bookmarks are also called "Favorites" in ]. In addition, all major web browsers have some form of built-in ] ]. In ], web feeds are formatted as "live bookmarks" and behave like a folder of bookmarks corresponding to recent entries in the feed.<ref>{{cite web | |||
| |url=http://johnbokma.com/firefox/rss-and-live-bookmarks.html | |||
| |title=Mozilla Firefox: RSS and Live Bookmarks | |||
| |last=Bokma | |||
| |first=John | |||
| |accessdate=30 June 2009 | |||
| }}</ref> In ], a more traditional feed reader is included which stores and displays the contents of the feed.<ref>{{cite web | |||
| |url=http://www.opera.com/mail/rss/ | |||
| |title=RSS newsfeeds in Opera Mail | |||
| |publisher=] | |||
| |accessdate=30 June 2009 | |||
| }}</ref> | |||
| Common ] (UI) features: | |||
| Furthermore, most browsers can be extended via ], downloadable components that provide additional features. | |||
| * Allowing the user to have multiple ] open at the same time, either in different browser windows or in different ] of the same window. | |||
| * ''Back'' and ''forward'' buttons to go back to the previous page visited or forward to the next one. | |||
| * A ''refresh'' or ''reload'' and a ''stop'' button to reload and cancel loading the current page. (In most browsers, the stop button is merged with the reload button.) | |||
| * A ''home'' button to return to the ]. | |||
| * An ] to input the ] of a page and display it, and a search bar to input ] into a ]. (In most browsers, the search bar is merged with the address bar.) | |||
| While ]s have similar UI features as ] versions, the limitations of ]s require mobile UIs to be simpler.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lee |first1=Simon |title=The Limitations Of Touch Interfaces |url=https://thisisglance.com/the-limitations-of-touch-interfaces/ |website=Glance |date=29 March 2019 |access-date=23 April 2021}}</ref> The difference is significant for users accustomed to ]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chrome keyboard shortcuts |url=https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/157179 |publisher=Google Inc. |access-date=23 April 2021}}</ref> The most popular desktop browsers also have sophisticated ].<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 June 2012 |title=Browsers are the new IDE for Web Development |url=https://devworks.thinkdigit.com/Software/Browsers-are-the-new-IDE-for-Web_9995.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702141638/http://devworks.thinkdigit.com/Software/Browsers-are-the-new-IDE-for-Web_9995.html |archive-date=2 July 2012 |website=devworks.thinkdigit.com}}</ref> | |||
| ===User interface=== | |||
| ]. The browser is controlled using an on-screen keyboard and LG's "Magic Motion" remote.]] | |||
| Most major web browsers have these user interface elements in common:<ref>{{cite web | |||
| |url=http://www.about-the-web.com/shtml/browsers.shtml | |||
| |title=About Browsers and their Features | |||
| |publisher=SpiritWorks Software Development | |||
| |accessdate=5 May 2009 | |||
| }}</ref> | |||
| * ''Back'' and ''forward'' buttons to go back to the previous resource and forward respectively. | |||
| * A ''refresh'' or ''reload'' button to reload the current resource. | |||
| * A ''stop'' button to cancel loading the resource. In some browsers, the stop button is merged with the reload button. | |||
| * A ''home'' button to return to the user's ]. | |||
| * An ] to input the ] (URI) of the desired resource and display it. | |||
| * A search bar to input terms into a ]. In some browsers, the search bar is merged with the address bar. | |||
| * A ] to display progress in loading the resource and also the URI of links when the cursor hovers over them, and ] capability. | |||
| == Security == | |||
| Major browsers also possess ] features to search within a web page. | |||
| {{Main|Browser security}} | |||
| Web browsers are popular targets for ]s, who exploit ] to steal information, destroy ], and other ] activities. Browser vendors regularly patch these security holes, so users are strongly encouraged to keep their browser software updated. Other protection measures are ] and being aware of ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Simple Steps for Internet Safety |url=https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/simple-steps-for-internet-safety |website=fbi.gov |publisher=] |access-date=21 February 2024}}</ref> | |||
| ===Privacy and security=== | |||
| {{main|Browser security}} | |||
| Most browsers support ] and offer quick and easy ways to delete the web cache, ], and browsing history. For a comparison of the current security vulnerabilities of browsers, see ]. | |||
| ===Standards support=== | |||
| Early web browsers supported only a very simple version of HTML. The rapid development of proprietary web browsers led to the development of non-standard dialects of HTML, leading to problems with interoperability. Modern web browsers support a combination of ]-based and ''de facto'' HTML and ], which should be rendered in the same way by all browsers. | |||
| ===Extensibility=== | |||
| A ] is a computer program that extends the functionality of a web browser. Every major web browser supports the development of browser extensions. | |||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| {{Portal|Internet |
{{Portal|Internet}} | ||
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| ==References== | ==References== | ||
| {{Reflist |
{{Reflist}} | ||
| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
| {{Wikiversity | Web Browser}} | |||
| * | |||
| *{{Commons category-inline|Web browsers}} | |||
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| {{Web browsers}} | {{Web browsers}} | ||
| {{Early web browsers}} | |||
| {{Authority control}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 21:53, 9 January 2025
Software used to access websites
A web browser is an application for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on a range of devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. By 2020, an estimated 4.9 billion people had used a browser. The most-used browser is Google Chrome, with a 67% global market share on all devices, followed by Safari with 18%.
A web browser is not the same thing as a search engine, though the two are often confused. A search engine is a website that provides links to other websites. However, to connect to a website's server and display its web pages, a user must have a web browser installed. In some technical contexts, browsers are referred to as user agents.
Function
The purpose of a web browser is to fetch content and display it on the user's device. This process begins when the user inputs a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), such as https://en.wikipedia.org/, into the browser. Virtually all URLs on the Web start with either http: or https: which means they are retrieved with the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). For secure mode (HTTPS), the connection between the browser and web server is encrypted, providing a secure and private data transfer.
Web pages usually contain hyperlinks to other pages and resources. Each link contains a URL, and when it is clicked or tapped, the browser navigates to the new resource. Most browsers use an internal cache of web page resources to improve loading times for subsequent visits to the same page. The cache can store many items, such as large images, so they do not need to be downloaded from the server again. Cached items are usually only stored for as long as the web server stipulates in its HTTP response messages.
Privacy
Further information: Web trackingDuring the course of browsing, cookies received from various websites are stored by the browser. Some of them contain login credentials or site preferences. However, others are used for tracking user behavior over long periods of time, so browsers typically provide a section in the menu for deleting cookies. Finer-grained management of cookies usually requires a browser extension.
History
Main article: History of the web browserThe first web browser, called WorldWideWeb, was created in 1990 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. He then recruited Nicola Pellow to write the Line Mode Browser, which displayed web pages on dumb terminals. The Mosaic web browser was released in April 1993, and was later credited as the first web browser to find mainstream popularity. Its innovative graphical user interface made the World Wide Web easy to navigate and thus more accessible to the average person. This, in turn, sparked the Internet boom of the 1990s, when the Web grew at a very rapid rate. The lead developers of Mosaic then founded the Netscape corporation, which released the Mosaic-influenced Netscape Navigator in 1994. Navigator quickly became the most popular browser.
Microsoft debuted Internet Explorer in 1995, leading to a browser war with Netscape. Within a few years, Microsoft gained a dominant position in the browser market for two reasons: it bundled Internet Explorer with its popular Windows operating system and did so as freeware with no restrictions on usage. The market share of Internet Explorer peaked at over 95% in the early 2000s. In 1998, Netscape launched what would become the Mozilla Foundation to create a new browser using the open-source software model. This work evolved into the Firefox browser, first released by Mozilla in 2004. Firefox's market share peaked at 32% in 2010. Apple released its Safari browser in 2003; it remains the dominant browser on Apple devices, though it did not become popular elsewhere.
Google debuted its Chrome browser in 2008, which steadily took market share from Internet Explorer and became the most popular browser in 2012. Chrome has remained dominant ever since. By 2015, Microsoft replaced Internet Explorer with Edge for the Windows 10 release.
Since the early 2000s, browsers have greatly expanded their HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and multimedia capabilities. One reason has been to enable more sophisticated websites, such as web apps. Another factor is the significant increase of broadband connectivity in many parts of the world, enabling people to access data-intensive content, such as streaming HD video on YouTube, that was not possible during the era of dial-up modems.
Browser market
See also: Usage share of web browsersGoogle Chrome has been the dominant browser since the mid-2010s and currently has a 67% global market share on all devices. The vast majority of its source code comes from Google's open-source Chromium project; this code is also the basis for many other browsers, including Microsoft Edge, currently in third place with about a 5% share, as well as Samsung Internet and Opera in fifth and sixth places respectively with over 2% market share each.
The other two browsers in the top four are made from different codebases. Safari, based on Apple's WebKit code, is the second most popular web browser and is dominant on Apple devices, resulting in an 18% global share. Firefox, in fourth place, with about 3% market share, is based on Mozilla's code. Both of these codebases are open-source, so a number of small niche browsers are also made from them.
Features
 | It has been suggested that Home page#Browser start page be merged into this section. (Discuss) Proposed since December 2024. |
The most popular browsers share many features in common. They automatically log users' browsing history, unless the users turn off their browsing history or use the non-logging private mode. They also allow users to set bookmarks, customize the browser with extensions, and can manage user passwords. Some provide a sync service and web accessibility features.
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Common user interface (UI) features:
- Allowing the user to have multiple pages open at the same time, either in different browser windows or in different tabs of the same window.
- Back and forward buttons to go back to the previous page visited or forward to the next one.
- A refresh or reload and a stop button to reload and cancel loading the current page. (In most browsers, the stop button is merged with the reload button.)
- A home button to return to the start page.
- An address bar to input the URL of a page and display it, and a search bar to input queries into a search engine. (In most browsers, the search bar is merged with the address bar.)
While mobile browsers have similar UI features as desktop versions, the limitations of touch screens require mobile UIs to be simpler. The difference is significant for users accustomed to keyboard shortcuts. The most popular desktop browsers also have sophisticated web development tools.
Security
Main article: Browser securityWeb browsers are popular targets for hackers, who exploit security holes to steal information, destroy files, and other malicious activities. Browser vendors regularly patch these security holes, so users are strongly encouraged to keep their browser software updated. Other protection measures are antivirus software and being aware of scams.
See also
References
- "World Internet Users Statistics and 2019 World Population Stats". www.internetworldstats.com. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- ^ "Browser Market Share Worldwide". StatCounter. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
- What is a Browser?. Google (on YouTube). 30 April 2009. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021.
Less than 8% of people who were interviewed on this day knew what a browser was.
- "What is the difference between the internet, browsers, search engines and websites?". Mozilla. 17 June 2021.
Let's start by breaking down the differences between the internet, browsers, search engine, and websites. Lots of us get these four things confused with each other.
- Manasa, D. (19 July 2011). "Difference Between Search Engine and Browser". differencebetween.net.
- "What Is the Purpose of a Web Browser?". 4 August 2015.
- "What is HTTP and how does it work? Hypertext Transfer Protocol Definition". WhatIs.com.
- Nguyen, Hoai Viet; Lo Iacono, Luigi; Federrath, Hannes (3 October 2018). "Systematic Analysis of Web Browser Caches". Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Web Studies. WS.2 2018. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 64–71. doi:10.1145/3240431.3240443. ISBN 978-1-4503-6438-6.
- Mishra, Vikas; Laperdrix, Pierre; Rudametkin, Walter; Rouvoy, Romain (1 April 2021). "Déjà vu: Abusing Browser Cache Headers to Identify and Track Online Users". Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies. 2021 (2): 391–406. doi:10.2478/popets-2021-0033. hdl:20.500.12210/57495. ISSN 2299-0984.
- ^ "Tracking Cookies: What They Are, and How They Threaten Your Privacy". Tom's Guide. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
- "Alternatives to Cookie AutoDelete extension". AlternativeTo. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
- "Tim Berners-Lee: WorldWideWeb, the first Web client". World Wide Web Consortium.
- Stewart, William. "Web Browser History". Archived from the original on 20 January 2011.
- Gillies, James; Cailliau, R. (2000). How the Web was Born: The Story of the World Wide Web. Oxford University Press. pp. 6. ISBN 0192862073.
- Calore, Michael (22 April 2010). "April 22, 1993: Mosaic Browser Lights Up Web With Color, Creativity". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
- ^ "Bloomberg Game Changers: Marc Andreessen". Bloomberg. 17 March 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
- Enzer, Larry (31 August 2018). "The Evolution of the Web Browsers". Monmouth Web Developers. Archived from the original on 31 August 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
- Baker, Loren (24 November 2004). "Mozilla Firefox Internet Browser Market Share Gains to 7.4%". Search Engine Journal.
- Routley, Nick (20 January 2020). "Internet Browser Market Share (1996–2019)". Visual Capitalist. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
- "StatCounter August 2011 data". Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- "Internet Explorer usage to plummet below 50 percent by mid-2012" (JPEG). Digital Trends. 3 September 2011.
- "StatCounter April-May 2012 data". Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- Gibbs, Samuel (19 March 2018). "Windows 10: Microsoft is looking to force people to use its Edge browser". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- "Dial-Up Internet Today: Understanding Its Lasting Influence". SimeonOnSecurity. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
- Google (2 September 2008). "Welcome to Chromium". Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- Balaban, David (17 February 2021). "Password Manager Comparison: Top Password Managers for 2021". eWEEK. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
- Ioannou, Pantelina; Athanasopoulos, Elias (1 July 2023). "Been Here Already? Detecting Synchronized Browsers in the Wild". 2023 IEEE 8th European Symposium on Security and Privacy (EuroS&P). IEEE. pp. 913–927. doi:10.1109/EuroSP57164.2023.00058. ISBN 978-1-6654-6512-0.
- "Accessibility: What users can do to browse more safely - Accessibility | MDN". developer.mozilla.org. 17 April 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- Lee, Simon (29 March 2019). "The Limitations Of Touch Interfaces". Glance. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
- "Chrome keyboard shortcuts". Google Inc. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
- "Browsers are the new IDE for Web Development". devworks.thinkdigit.com. 29 June 2012. Archived from the original on 2 July 2012.
- "Simple Steps for Internet Safety". fbi.gov. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
External links
Media related to Web browsers at Wikimedia Commons
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