TECHNOLOGY KNOWLEDGE BASE

Firefox is the browser developed by the open source community known collectively as Mozilla.  For more information on Firefox, click here.

CLEARING BROWSER HISTORY IN FIREFOX

1. Click the Tools menu (the icon looks like 3-horizontal bars at the upper right)
2. Select History
3. Choose Clear Recent History
4. Set "Time range to clear" to "Everything"
5. Click the Details button and make sure that only "Browsing & Download History" is checked/selected.
6. Click Clear Now

Internet Explorer (IE) is the browser inherent to Microsoft Windows.  IE was first introduced with Windows 95 and continues to be the flagship browser for Microsoft.  For more information on IE click here.

CLEARING BROWSER HISTORY IN IE

1. Click the Tools menu (the icon looks like a gear cog at the upper right)
2. Choose Internet Options
3. On the General tab; click Delete under "Browsing History"
4. Unless you wish to remove all user data from within IE, leave all options unchecked except History
5. Click Delete

Safari is the browser inherent to the Mac OS.  For more information about Safari, click here.

CLEARING BROWSER HISTORY IN SAFARI (earlier versions)

1. Click the Edit menu and choose Reset Safari...
2. Unless you want to remove all user data from Safari, make sure that only "Clear History" is checked/selected.
3. Click Reset

CLEARING BROWSER HISTORY IN SAFARI (newer versions)

1. Click Safari on the menu bar, then choose "Clear History and Website Data"
2. Set the Clear option to "all history"
3. Click Clear History

Why do I need to know how to use different browsers?  or Why can't I use one browser for everything I want to view on the web?

Are their major differences between the browsers featured here?

Which browser should I use for which application?

Why do I need to know how to use different browsers?  or Why can't I use one browser for everything I want to view on the web?

To answer this question we need to first be comfortable knowing that the internet is a network built on chaos.  The world-wide-web is the wild west, a network we cannot marshal.  Every website is programmed and designed by different developers using different methods by which they render their design.  Often a single website is built from a multitude of programming languages - and there's the rub.  Browsers, our windows to the web, are also developed by different programmers who have different priorities.  This means that certain browsers may or may not render a website more effectively than another.  All browsers accomplish the same fundamental tasks of rendering websites, but some do it better than others.  For instance, Firefox has been known to render sites utilizing a lot of Java programming - somehow Firefox rendered Java faster than its competitors.  Soon thereafter and a few updates later Chrome and IE accomplished the same tasks just as rapidly.  So where does this leave us?  Browsers are like wrenches in a toolbox - each does the same basic function, but one size does not fit all.  The more we can become familiar with the 3-4 most popular browsers, the better we will be.

Are their major differences between the browsers featured here?

Yes and no.  Please refer to the question/answer above.  The only major difference is in their manufacturing.  IE and Safari are inherent to Microsoft and Apple (the two main software and hardware competitors).  Their browsers (IE and Safari respectfully) are not open source, meaning they are proprietary.  Firefox and Chrome are derived from open source projects; therefore a community of programmers can contribute programming and features to the browsers.

Which browser should I use for which application?