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Week 1

Page history last edited by Doug Peterson 10 years, 8 months ago

Eight Weeks to Web 2.0 - Week 1   

 

 

Upgrade Your Web Browser

If you are using your computer right out of the box, chance are you're using Internet Explorer or Safari as your web browser.  These are fine tools and you'll find all kinds of opinions about them.  But like most software these days, they need to be kept current.  Your Windows or Macintosh computer should let you know automatically if there are upgrades.  The best advice ever --- keep them upgraded for the best features and security.

 

Your first step in your journey will be to try out a new web browser on your computer.  If you've been around the internet for a while, you've undoubtedly heard about the Netscape browser.  Netscape was wonderful and offered an alternative to the accepted defaults.  The history of Netscape makes for interesting reading.  If you follow the cookie crumbs, you'll see that the Mozilla browser, now 10 years old, was started as an Open Source project by Netscape.  In an effort to slim down the product from a suite to just a web browser, Firefox was born.  Firefox is undoubtedly one of the biggest success stories in the Open Source movement.  You'll find another browser in the Firefox family tree:  Camino (Mac Only).

 

Google enters the browsing forum with its own web browser.  Google Chrome is a very fast and modern browser.  It's based upon the Chromium project (another browser you might want to consider!)  Another browser built from this project is Rockmelt.  It calls itself a wowser.

 

Read about all of these browsers. and during Week 1, you'll download one of them and check them out.  Download links appear below.

 

 

Firefox
Google Chrome

Opera

Opera Next


Chromium

 

 

Or, if you want to stay with your old favourites Internet Explorer and Safari, make sure you're using the latest version.  There have been some great security and functionality additions made to these browsers.

 

Now, get on the Internet and take your new browser for a test drive.

 

Just like a new car, it may take a little getting used to but soon you're going to love it.

 

What to look for?

First - if you're migrating from an older browser, you'll like the ability to have multiple tabs open.  Instead of "go here", "go there", "go back there", check the history, etc., open your new links in a new tab.  That way, if you need to go back to a reference point, just click on the appropriate tab.  Heck, you can even open your History in your sidebar.  Explore some of the new buttons and features.

 

What to do next?

Well, one of the things about Web 2.0 is getting connected.  Hopefully, you've got a sense of being connected just by using the browser and exploring some of the features.  But, it gets better.  These browsers have the ability to add additional functionality to them through "Add-ons" or "Extensions".  

 

 

Where do you get them?  Head over here for Firefox based and here for Chromium based.  From here, if you are like me, you'll go on an add-on spree.  Add-ons can be added and tested.  Then, if you like them, keep them.  If not, delete them and try something else.

 

Experiment with your new browser.  You'll find that the internet is all of a sudden more interesting and information so much easier to access.

 

Eight Weeks To Web 2

 

 

Check in

What worked?  What didn't?  What do you like about your new browser?  What add-ons do you like?  Which add-ons did you not like?

 

The best feature in any browser?  It's a tough call but if you get to a webpage, it's great to find particular content rather than wading through everything.  CTRL-F or CMD-F will typically open a window to let you search for any term.  It's a real timesaver.

 

Note :  If you are using Firefox (or IE) and don't like the tabs function, you always have the ability to open up new webpage in a "new window".   You can do this by right clicking on the URL/link you want and selecting "Open in New Window".  You can also turn off the tab function by going into the TOOLS >  OPTIONS  >  TABS and clicking the button that says "New Pages Should be in: a new window".

 

 

On to Week 2

 

 

Comments (1)

Anonymous said

at 4:31 pm on Jul 7, 2008

I got an early start and found a bunch of web browsers including "Sheera" (MAC only) and "iCab" (MAC and shareware). I didn't try those ones but I did download "SeaMonkey" which was a little surreal because it did remind me so much of Netscape Navigator and Communicator. I really liked Camino: it's pretty quick and has some good community support. The one browser that I'd like to suggest is Opera. It's available for MAC, Windows and Linux. It claims to be the quickest and most secure of all and has some interesting features including Speed Dial and Fit to Width. The current release is 9.5. It also caters to mobile users (Opera Mini) and those interested in things such as BitTorrent. Finally, Opera has also introduced me to the world of mouse gestures. Worth a look I think.

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