STS: Student Technology Services

Although it comes packaged with Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer is not the only web browser available. There are actually several high-quality web browsers available for download, all of which offer security and usability superior to Internet Explorer. Here are a few of our favorites, we encourage everyone to give one or all of them a try!

Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox has quickly become one of the most popular free browsers available, and has been downloaded over 200 million times since its debut in November 2004. Firefox is known for its enhanced security features, speed, ease of use and customization options (done by adding Firefox extensions to the browser). Firefox includes integrated pop-up blocking, tabbed browsing (opens all websites inside of a single browser window) and built-in search functionality for many of your favorite websites, such as Google, Amazon and eBay.

Opera

Opera, touted as "The Fastest Browser on Earth," boasts many of the same features as Mozilla Firefox, including integrated pop-up blocking, web search and enhanced security. Although it was previously available as banner-supported software, this browser can now be downloaded for free from www.opera.com.