If you like me, you cannot get enough of the Internet for browsing news and catching up with email. However, most of us use the standard software provided by our ISP or bundled on windows. How about downloading some of the best apps to make browsing the web and sending email fast, easy and fun. Let's check them out, shall we?

A Browser to Kick-Start Surfing: Fire

A web browser is simply a piece of software that displays web pages. Anything that you access through the web, a facet of the internet, you'll do through a web browser. Simply put, when you browse google or ebay, your web browser visually represents what you see on your computer's display. Windows comes with a built-in web browser that's practically a household name: Internet Explorer. Many PC users are happy with Microsoft's aging browser; however, many people are fed up with its lack of options and it's vulnerability to exploits and viruses. There's a simple solution to all of this, and it's Internet Explorer's main rival at the moment. This new kid on the block is named Firefox.

Mozilla's popular web browser, Firefox, is loved all over the world. Since Firefox's introduction, it's picked up numerous accolades for its ease of use, speed, and stability, and Mozilla keeps their browser's security patch updates relatively frequent. Firefox is believed to be more stable and less prone to insidious exploits than Microsoft's Internet Explorer, one of the main reasons why so many users have switched to Mozilla's flagship Firefox browser.

Surf on over to http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/. You'll see a download link for Windows. Once you've got the installation program, run it and go through each setup dialog box. Firefox's installation routine is very simple and quick. You'll have Firefox installed in no time at all. Once you have Firefox installed, it's time to take it for a test drive. Fire it up and you'll probably be greeted with the Firefox homepage. If you're like me, you like your homepage to point directly to Google.

Surf on over to Google in the address bar.

To set Google as your homepage, navigate to the 'Tools' menu and select 'Options'; inside the 'Home Page' section you'll see Google in the location text box; press the 'Use Current Page' to load google.com as your homepage. Easy, huh? If you're used to browsing the web with IE, right off the bat you'll discover that Firefox has a surprising familiar interface.

You'll see the standard 'Back' and 'Forward' buttons used for navigation, and you'll notice a little 'home' icon that'll point you back to your homepage. Your saved web page links are no longer called 'Favorites' in Firefox lingo; instead, they're called 'bookmarks', which make more sense if you think about it. To 'bookmark' a page so that you can always pull it up later, simply go to the 'Bookmark' menu and select 'Bookmark this Page'.

One cool feature that of Firefox when it first stepped onto the scene was its ability to do 'tabbed browsing'. Tabbed browsing is a method of viewing multiple web pages inside a single browser window. Instead of having multiple browser windows open at the same time to different web pages, overflowing your taskbar with browser buttons, you can have just one browser opened with a myriad of tabs opened to various web pages.

This layout makes it easier to switch back and forth between web pages without the hindrance of a multitude of browser windows opened at the same time, and it makes for a nice, clean browsing experience for multi-tasking individuals.

As you can see, I've got Firefox opened to various websites via its tabbing ability. I can easily switch back and forth between the web pages by clicking on its associated tab.

To create a new tab, go to the 'File' menu and select 'New Tab' or use the shortcut hotkey 'Ctrl+T'. Tabbed web browsing makes for a stream-lined surfing experience.

Mozilla's Email Client: Thunderbird

A lot of users worldwide are familiar with Microsoft's email client, Outlook. Perhaps you're looking for an alternative? Mozilla Thunderbird rivals MS Outlook in the email client arena. Like its sibling, Firefox, Thunderbird is offered by Mozilla.

It's an easy-to-use email client that allows you to filter spam, pull email from multiple email servers, and create folders to organize your inbox, and a lot more.

Thunderbird's interface is clean and intuitive. If you're tired of using web email and want a solution to easily pull all of your email to your local computer, give Thunderbird a try.

One of the cool things I like about Thunderbird is its ability to 'learn' about spam. You flag certain email as spam, and Thunderbird will remember this particular sender and format. When you receive a similar email, Thunderbird will automatically send the email to the 'Junk' bin, keeping your inbox clean with only important messages. If you're like me, you have multiple email accounts.

With Thunderbird, you can set up multiple accounts, so you don't have to check each account separately. When checking for new email, Thunderbird will check each of your accounts, pull all new email, and display all of your messages in one inbox. You'll enjoy having all your email in one place, without the annoyance of manually checking each different account.

Mozilla regularly makes updates available to its products. Like Firefox, Thunderbird comes equipped with a 'Check for Updates' option located in its 'Help' menu. When there're new updates available, Thunderbird will automatically download and install them, all without your having to intervene.

It's a really convenient feature. You can find the download link to Mozilla Thunderbird here:

http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird. The install is painless and quick, so you can get up and running with Thunderbird in no time at all. Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird are two of the most popular, web applications today.

Many users enjoy using a powerful alternative to windows and ISP's bundled offerings.

Major Jane Raymond USAFA

MER/IT

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