browser

Did you know that in Apple Safari you can combine windows into Tabs, move Tabs around, break them out into separate windows?

I subscribe to the Apple Quick Tip of the Week podcast. These are short, focussed Tips presented by Apple employees, with very professional production qualities.

The Tips are often interesting and useful, but Tip 50: Managing Browser Tabs is one that everyone should view, whether beginner or advanced.

Find out in 1 minute (10 Mb) how to work with Safari’s Tabs.

Popularity: 70% [?]

Avoid surprises on the web: check the status bar in your browser. [First published April 2003.]

Sometimes things seem to get out of control when you’re visiting web pages. You click something and before you know it a huge PDF is loading in the page or a file is downloading to your hard drive.

At the bottom of your browser window is a Status Bar. (If you don’t see it visit the View menu and ensure it’s turned on.) As you hover over a link glance down at the bottom of the window and notice that it tells you the address of where that link will take you.

The screenshot shows the Status Bar as the grey stripe across the bottom of the window. My cursor is over the words ‘Jump Start’, but the Status Bar shows that if I click I’ll go to the page ‘community.net.nz/about/help/information-for-new-users.htm’.

For example, go to a CommunityNet Aotearoa Home page and hover over the words ‘Jump Start’. Notice that the Status Bar shows that if you click you will go to a page whose address ends in information-for-new-users.htm. Hover over the Notice Board link and see that you will go to communitycentre/.

On websites you will generally be going to a web page. For web pages the address shown in the status bar often ends in .htm, .html or .php. If the address ends in a slash (as in the Community Centre example) you’ll go to the main page in a directory (folder).

However, if we visit the Ranui Action Project Case Study and hover over the link to the RAP Journey we’ll see the address in the Status Bar now ends in arapjourney.doc. Clicking this link will download a Microsoft Word document.

The end of an address in the Status Bar gives you very helpful information about what’s coming up. Here are some clues:

• .htm, .html, .php ,/ — a standard web page
• .doc — Microsoft Word file
• .xls — Microsoft Excel file
• .pdf — PDF file
• .swf — Shockwave Flash file (needs the Shockwave plugin)
• .mov, .wmv, .rm — movie (Quicktime / Windows Media / Real Media)
• .mp3 — MP3 music (or speech)

Before you click, check the Status Bar for a clue about what will happen.

Written for and reproduced from CommunityNet Aotearoa Panui, April 2003. It has been edited for use here.

Popularity: 17% [?]

When you go on to the web, which browser do you use? Is it Internet Explorer? Firefox? Safari? Opera? Some other browser? And how long have you been using that one without updating it? Is it the current version? If not current, your browsing may not be as secure or enjoyable as it could be. [First published May 2006. Some details (especially version numbers) may be a bit dated.]

Check the version number

Here’s how to tell. If you use Windows open up the browser and go to the Help menu. Choose the last item on that menu — it should say ‘About’ followed by the name of the browser. Mac users you will go to the menu named after the application, for example, Safari, and call up the first item: About browser name. So there’s the first question answered.

But go ahead and select the About menu item. You should see a window telling you the version. That version number might have about a million digits and letters, but the really important stuff is at the start. I run Windows Internet Explorer version 6.0 (with Service Pack 2) when I work on Community Net Aotearoa.

If I’m using Windows for some other reason I use Firefox version 1.5.0.2 or Opera version 8.5.4. When I use my Mac I run various browsers at various times: Safari v 2.0.3, Firefox v 1.5.0.2, OmniWeb v 5.1.3 or Opera v 8.5.4.

How does your browser version compare? Is it older than mine? Is there a newer version available?

Safer browsing; better browsing

It’s not just a matter of boasting that mine’s newer than yours. There are two important reasons why you should keep your web browser up to date.

The first is a matter of safety and security. Believe it or not the bad guys are always trying to get in to your computer and can try to use your web browser to do that. Every browser update fixes security problems that have been exposed in the previous version.

These security problems affect Window users in particular. Computers running the Macintosh operating system or Linux are safer and more secure, but they are not immune. Everyone should keep their web browser up to date.

The second reason is less scary but more personal: newer versions of web browsers do a better job than old versions. The web is changing every day, with new techniques popping up for making websites more useful, more attractive and more powerful. The older your web browser the less likely it will be serving you well.

Most web browsers are free, and easy to install. Check yours today to see if it’s current. If not, check the browser’s home page to see if your computer can run the latest version. If so, download it, install it and surf more safely.

• Internet Explorer: microsoft.com
• Firefox: getfirefox.com
• Safari: apple.com/safari
• Opera: opera.com
• OmniWeb (US$30): omnigroup.com

Note: there are many other really great web browsers. those listed above are simply fairly common.

Written for and reproduced from CommunityNet Aotearoa Panui, May 2006.

Popularity: 17% [?]