The latest in Internet Browsers: It's all about the tabs!

Looking for something fun, FREE, and internet-related to experiment with this summer? Why not try a new browser? Firefox, Internet Explorer 7-beta, Safari, and Opera, have some very useful and addicting features, and all utilize tabs. With tabs, you only need open your browser once while having multiple pages open at the same time! These features not only helps your computer work more efficiently and download pages faster, it's very convenient as a user. Read more specifics on each free browser below.

1. Firefox:

   Provides tabbed browsing, customizable looks (themes) and countless useful add-ons (extensions) … and not as many security problems. It blocks pop-up ads and doesn't use as much memory or computer resources. Works with any kind of operating system: Windows; Apple; Linux.

   Where to get it: www.mozilla.com/firefox/central/
   "Portable" version for USB flash-drives: portableapps.com/apps/internet/browsers/portable_firefox

   Firefox Extensions: Handy customized add-on programs for Firefox at addons.mozilla.org/

   • Scrapbook - invaluable! A must-have for training! Conveniently captures and stores web pages for viewing offline. Looks and acts just like the online-version, including deep links, video, flash, and sound. Great for training situations where internet is unavailable or lost. Also great way to store your online receipts/transactions (amazon.com, eBay, etc.)
   • Forecastfox - your local weather, current and multi-day forecast
   • Flags - flag or symbol indicating where the current viewed webpage originates
   • IE Tab - right-click option to view current webpage in Internet Explorer in a Firefox tab!!!! Handy if a page doesn't function well in Firefox (some commercial sites).
   • Print Preview - gives you preview and editing capability for printing web pages
   • Sage - a news aggregator for RSS feeds, displays as sidebar and/or webpage with links to articles. Very easy to use and add sites to.

2. Internet Explorer 7 (beta version):

   A long overdue update to the venerable IE6. The new IE incorporates tabbed browsing and is quite like Firefox in its look and feel, but IE7 is still not in a final release version. Version 7 will be standard with the new Microsoft Vista operating system.

   Where to get it: www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/ie7/ie7betaredirect.mspx

3. Apple Safari - Installed on all new Apple computers, very similar to Firefox. Only works with Apple's OS X operating system.

   Where to get it: www.apple.com/safari/

4. Opera: Until recently only an ad-laden and stripped-down version was available for free, now the "full" version is free too (in a desperate attempt to catch up with Firefox's market share). Was the first browser to use tabs; also has a variety of customizable features. Works with any kind of operating system: Windows; Apple; Linux.

   Where to get it: www.opera.com/