Automatic Updates and Their Effect on Normal Operations

March 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Updates are an important resource for a safer and more efficient operating system and software installed on a computer. On most computers, updates occur in the background and they can use their computer with little or no effect to normal operations. However, some users, report a frustrating slowing of their systems when the updates are installing.

Some people who experience this slowing and its resulting interference with whatever they may be doing with their computers at the time the installation takes place. Of particular concern are the reports that updates of some software updates have caused terminal errors on a computer necessitating a complete system re install.

The decision to allow automatic updates is a personal one. Some updates, such as Internet Explorer Browser updates fixe “fix” bugs in the browsers security and therefore provide safer web searching. Other updates however are not necessarily essential.

The computer owner can specify which updates they wish to receive automatically and which updates they wish to manually request and install. The requests for automatic updates are a default setting in the installation process of the operating software. Installation can occur with the update manually disabled by following the directions on the installation wizard.

Updates can also be manually selected   accessing performance and maintenance option in the computers control panel. A third method is to access the Properties menu in the “my computer” folder in the start menu.

Most computer operators would agree that combinations of automatic and manual updates are the best option to reduce the number of non-essential installations occurring without the knowledge of the operator. The effect on normal operation is also reduced by the fewer downloads occurring at inconvenient times.

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Browsing the Internet

October 13, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Internet Explorer 6 running on Linux in Wine.
Image via Wikipedia

After the entire fiasco with Microsoft’s bundling Internet Explorer with the Windows operating system, to the exclusion of other browsing candidates, and lawsuits that followed – many people have gained a better idea of the numerous different options that they technically have available to them even if they choose the convenience of simply using the Operating System bundled browser. And this competition in the market has led to several innovations in how we view the internet today.
Though to many people, the internet is synonymous with Google (no, really) and their only contact with a computer is for very limited work related purposes, most other American consumers in urban communities have long since grasped the internet and ran with it. And in doing so, they’ve made personal choices about how they intended to utilize the internet based on individual judgment on reliability, security, convenience and features.

Though, at one point, Internet Explorer held a large sway over the market, as did AOL (when they used to send everybody their discs right at home for free month-long trials), that has long since changed with the advent of open source software alternatives. Instead of the typical choices, many users had switched to Mozilla Firefox for the initial superiorities it seemed to have over Internet Explorer in terms not only of speed and security, but the ability to distribute add-ons that improved niche functionality of the browsing experience. At that same time, the predecessor to Mozilla Firefox, Netscape Navigator, was running out of business and many of the later’s clients were redirected to the former.

Gaining global renown, Firefox did more for the variety of options now available than the individual companies that sprang with a plan themselves, in a way, as it showed users that there was another possibility. And today, because of this, we have browsers competing from several different companies, and with improvements by old giants, all of them are equally competitive for their particular clientele. The biggest names in internet browsing today are Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome and Safari.

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Best Browsers

August 14, 2010 by Leave a Comment

A web browser is your window into the world wide web. It does the job of retrieving, traversing and displaying the data along with being a primary interface between you and the electronic world. It is certain that if you are reading this article, you are using one of the many browsers available.

The first browser was introduced in 1991 by Tim Berners Lee. The initial browsers were either based on Unix or on Mac. These browsers were language specific and were nothing like what browsers are today. The year 1995 was led by a browser named Mosaic which led way to the creation of Netscape. By 1998 there were a couple of browsers but the most popular ones were Internet Explorer and Netscape. Microsoft’s move to bundle Internet Explorer gave Microsoft an inevitable advantage over other browsers. But users soon realized the added benefits of using a external browser. Features such as better navigability, speed, security and improved user interface made the need for a better browser a necessity. Since the beginning of Internet there have been wars going on between browsers. Every browser excels in one or more sections and fails in other sections or users do not like the features of that browser.

Still today the leading browser is Internet Explorer because of it embedding its browser into its operating system. But it is fast losing its ground on account of competition and legal issues surrounding Internet Explorer. Its fiercest competitor is still the Netscape evolved browser; Firefox. Coming in close third is Safari with its browser for Mac and Windows. The recently released Chrome by Google is eating into the share of all the major browsers rapidly and soon to become the third most used browser. With the introduction of HTML 5.0 it is again a battle of speed and features that the new versions of these browsers will have to face to come out ahead.

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