Browser Wars

I've had some contradictory experiences with Mozilla and IE. Back in Louisiana, the high school I taught at was a laptop model school. This means every student was issued a laptop that was brought to every class and kept for 4 years unless we upgraded. The girls had electives in computer architecture and multimedia. They even worked their own helpdesk and troubleshooted for teachers on many occasions. I'm off topic already, but I bring it up because that is how I first heard about Firefox. I learned about it being the "nerdy computer-geek" engine. but did not start to use it until about a year ago. Sure, it's pretty comparable with IE, and I know it's "better for your computer" to use, e.g. less viruses, etc. However, I had to switch back to IE to get to sites, like my bank. I was happy with it, and did not notice any differences but am back to IE for a specific reason that I cannot for the life of me remember. I think I couldn't access BlackBoard with firefox or something of that nature. So here I am, back using IE. I have no problem using Firefox for this class, or in the future. I just think it's a pain to not have one do it all for you.

The article was a bit over my head, but it was interesting to read the years in which things were happening and "stone-age" stuff that I remember, like Netscape. For a while my Dad was still using Word Perfect and stuff. I remember my evolution of computer usage very well, from Apple 2s, Commodore 64s, and floppy discs. I think it's funny to think back and remember that I didn't get an email address until 2001, dropped a class late in my undergrad career because they wanted us to access this thing called 'the Internet." It wasn't until I started teaching at this school that I became really comfortable with computers. I remember I had a neighbor who had a laptop and I was like "where's the rest of it?" "Where is your mouse??" Now, I live with my laptop on my lap. I am greedy for information and entertainment. I guess that's what technology will do to you.

Answers:
1) A web browser is: a computer application used to download and view files located on the Internet.
2) 4 most popular: IE, Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome
3) Browser war: competition for dominance in the browser market. I'm not 100% sure what drives competition or why it is important to be the best, except that with technology, you can become obsolete quickly if you don't compete, or can't catch up. Everyone is always looking for the next development, the next application, the fastest speed. Maybe I missed it in all the jargon about who developed what when, but I didn't find answers to those questions in the article and am coming to my own conclusions. It's important to be the best, because it's the best.
Competition between the browsers is rooted in staying current with emerging technologies and conforming to standards set forth by the W3. (World Wide Web Consortium*)
* my husband is a web developer