No one is in charge of the Internet. There are organizations which develop technical aspects of this network and set standards for creating applications on it, but no governing body is in control. The Internet backbone, through which Internet traffic flows, is owned by private companies.
All computers on the Internet communicate with one another using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol suite, abbreviated to TCP/IP. Computers on the Internet use a client/server architecture. This means that the remote server machine provides files and services to the user's local client machine. Software can be installed on a client computer to take advantage of the latest access technology.
Google Chrome contains many features that can be harnessed by webmasters to deliver a better end-user experience. Google Chrome comes with Gears built in, which allows webmasters to take advantage of APIs such as offline storage. In addition, Google Chrome allows your web application to look and feel like a "desktop" application, as users can launch Google Chrome in a mode with a minimalist UI, featuring nothing but a title bar.
Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. As of August 2010, Firefox was the second most widely used browser, with 22.93% of worldwide usage share of web browsers, according to Net Applications.Other sources put Firefox's usage share between 20% and 32%. To display web pages, Firefox uses the Gecko layout engine, which implements most current web standards in addition to several features which are intended to anticipate likely additions to the standards.
Windows Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer; commonly abbreviated to IE), is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year. Later versions were available as free downloads, or in service packs, and included in the OEM service releases of Windows 95 and later versions of Windows.
Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, chatting on IRC, downloading files via BitTorrent, and reading web feeds. Opera is offered free of charge for personal computers and mobile phones. Features include tabbed browsing, page zooming, mouse gestures, and an integrated download manager. Its security features include built-in phishing and malware protection, strong encryption when browsing secure websites, and the ability to easily delete private data such as HTTP cookies.
Safari is a graphical web browser developed by Apple and included as part of the Mac OS X operating system. First released as a public beta on January 7, 2003 on the company's Mac OS X operating system, it became Apple's default browser beginning with Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther". Safari is also the native browser for the iOS. A version of Safari for the Microsoft Windows operating system, first released on June 11, 2007, supports Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. The latest stable release of the browser is 5.0.2, which is available as a free download for both Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. As of 2010[update], Safari is the fourth most widely used browser in the US.
Maxthon (pronounced /ˈmækstən/ and formerly known as MyIE2) is a China-based freeware web browser for Microsoft Windows. From its early MyIE2 roots, Maxthon has developed a growing user base, especially in China, and in 2006 it received commercial backing for Maxthon 2.0. Maxthon 3, currently on Release Candidate, supports both Trident and the WebKit engine. Maxthon seeks to provide many rich features and a highly customizable user interface, without losing compatibility with Internet Explorer. In January 2006, Maxthon developers partnered with Microsoft in its booth at the Consumer Electronics Show. Maxthon won its first WebWare 100 Award in 2005, and won the WebWare 100 Award also in 2008 and 2009. Maxthon is reported to be the second most popular browser in China, and it has been downloaded more than 500 million times world wide.
