With the concept of browsers, users of computer systems come across almost every day. True, most are accustomed to consider browsers exclusively as web browsers such as Internet Explorer or something else that allows you to travel around the Internet. This is a certain error. And then it will be clear what this is connected with.
What is a browser on a computer: a general understanding
To begin with, the very concept of a browser comes from the English verb browse, which means “view” or “view”. What is a browser on a computer from this point of view is not difficult to understand. This is a kind of viewer. And this is not necessarily a web browser.
So, for example, you can simply call the browser “Explorer”, which is present in any Windows system, a program for quickly viewing images (for example, ACDSee), and generally all programs that allow you to quickly navigate, display and view any specific components (files, folders, etc.).
But, since we are talking specifically about Internet browsers, it will be based on this very concept. What is a browser on a computer? This is an access tool to Internet resources, which allows you to fully display all the visual or other information contained on the requested page (graphics, audio, video).
Built-in Windows Tools
As you know, any modification of Windows initially has at its disposal a built-in tool for Internet surfing, called Internet Explorer. Many users, if not most, speak unflattering about this program. This is understandable. Indeed, prior to the 11th version, the browser was considered the most vulnerable to various kinds of virus attacks in terms of installing some malicious panels or add-ons.
But the tenth version of Windows has at its disposal another browser in the form of an Edge application. And this program, although it is a revised version of IE, nevertheless differs from the initial development quite significantly. And user reviews indicate that according to the speed of work and downloading files to the hard drive, this application "replay" all known browsers. But most Windows 10 users do not trust this application. But in vain! Apparently, some just out of habit do not accept innovations from Microsoft.
Which browser is the fastest and most convenient?
Today you can find a lot of web browsers. They are released by all and sundry (even the creators of mail servers). But the most popular ones are the Google browser (it can be installed on a Chrome computer arbitrarily, as an additional program when installing other packages), Opera, Mozilla and some others.
If we compare the performance of all currently known observers, it is rather difficult to single out one of them, since they differ quite significantly by different criteria, not to mention the fact that ratings are often biased.
But even in this case, we can say (and this is confirmed by user reviews) that the above programs, including, by the way, and Edge, are the most popular and most common (we are not talking about mobile systems, Google Chrome for Android and Safari for iOS).
Settings and Extensions
In some aspects of the capabilities and performance, web browsers are usually judged by how many add-ons are released for them and how well they behave after installation.
One of the universal ones is the AdBlock (Plus) extension, which can block ads in all known applications for accessing the Internet.
Not all browsers contain built-in tools to bypass site blocking. But in the "Opera" directly to the left of the address bar there is a VPN icon, clicking on which, the user gets complete anonymity, as if he was working with the activation of an anonymous proxy server.
“Yandex” browser for a computer or mobile device means access to the so-called “Extension Store”. In it you can find both paid and free add-ons that are often duplicated (full and shortened versions like FriGate). But as for the browser itself, it is a copy of the Chromium browser, which, in turn, was copied from Google Chrome. In general, pure water is plagiarism. The same, by the way, concerns the Amigo browser, so annoyingly advertised at every step, or its analogue in the form of a browser from the Mail.Ru mailer.
System Maintenance Issues
It goes without saying that browsers and the operating system need to be monitored in terms of cleaning. This includes deleting cookies, history, cached data (Cache), image thumbnails, browsing history, etc.
As a rule, such a function is not activated by default in any known browser. You have to use it manually. This is usually a cleaning point on exit.
But in this situation, you can use advanced optimizer programs like CCleaner or ASC, which, when starting system optimization with one click, clear all the above elements. But if a virus enters the browser, the simplest thing you can do is to reset the settings, so to speak, to the factory state, delete the questionable extensions and panels, change the search system, the start page and check if the path to the executable is appended to the end after the exe extension is something else.
What should I do if I can’t install the browser on my computer?
Now a few words about why sometimes installing a third-party browser into the system can be problematic. After all, what is a browser on a computer? In fact, this is a normal program, which in the latest versions of Windows from the point of view of security or installing similar software built into the shell, may be undesirable. Some antiviruses adapted specifically for Windows-systems may also have such properties.
Thus, in order to install the appropriate browser in case of receiving an access rights error (if the launch on behalf of the administrator does not work), you just need to disable all the protective equipment for a while. You can also optionally set a new rule for the firewall and add the application to the list of exceptions.
How to completely uninstall the browser?
Finally, a few words about how to completely remove the browser from the computer. Not a single browser known to date is completely deleted by the built-in Windows tools (even in safe mode), not to mention the applications “wired” into the system. That is why, at the end of the standard uninstallation procedure, you have to manually delete the registry keys, residual folders and files.
If there is a need to remove some browser, the simplest solution is to use special-purpose utilities like iObit Uninstaller. Such programs can uninstall not only installed programs (and in full with the removal of residual debris in the form of registry entries or directories with subfolders and files), but also embedded components of operating systems (including Internet Explorer and Edge).
A few words in the end
What is a browser on a computer, I think, is already clear. It remains to add here one more interpretation of this term, which few people think about. For example, in Windows 7, a computer browser can be not only a file manager, but also some remote server client that can manage terminals in its environment. This can be the most common RDP client or any other server program that can monitor user behavior on a local network. Moreover, it does not matter which operating systems are installed on the administrator and child terminals. Typically, such applications are cross-platform.
Thus, the concept of a browser has several aspects. But in terms of using Internet surfing, this definition looks the easiest. This is a common means of browsing the Internet and downloading the necessary content to the hard drive. All browsers have built-in downloaders. But it’s better to use third-party tools, since the download speed in them can be much higher (take at least the same torrent programs).