Browser Wars

Most of the Browser Wars article was difficult to understand, but I did get a few things from it. The most prominent thing being that in the race to develop the best browser a lot of bugs were overlooked which caused problems for people using them. A second was that for a very long time Internet Explorer had the market cornered since it came standard on Windows. Even though statistics show that Firefox the top browser right now I use Internet Explorer 8. I've used Firefox some and I just don't like it as much. As far as the technical reasons why it might be better, they go over my head. I base my opinion on what is easier for me to use and how the features I use the most work. However, my opinion may change as this semester continues and I use Firefox more. After becoming comfortable with it I might actually enjoy it better, although I doubt it. As for the questions in the Learning Outcome section, this is what I came up with.

1. A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. This is the definition I found on Wikipedia. How that translates to me is that a web browser is the application that a person uses to navigate and find desired information over the Internet.
2. The statistics for the four best browsers can be looked at in two different ways. The first is 1- Firefox (46.4%) 2- Internet Explorer 8 (16.2%) 3- Chrome (13.6%) 4- Internet Explorer 7 (9.3%). The second, which I think makes more sense is 1- Firefox (46.4%) 2- Internet Explorer 6, 7 & 8 (33.4%) 3- Chrome (13.6%) 4- Safari (3.7%)
3. A browser war refers to the competition between different browsers to be the best, which is defined by having the most usage. The competition is driven by the desire to be the best which results in the development of new features. I'm not actually sure why it's important the be the best browser other than the ability to generate revenue for its company.