I am often asked some very simple questions, but these are so important that I wanted to share the answers with you. From Browsers to Search Engines and Web pages to Homepages, there are a lot of terms that get thrown around in the computer world. I'd like to help you understand these words and feel more comfortable using them!
Web Browser vs. Search Engine
What's the difference between these two?
A web browser is a program on your computer (or mobile device) that gives you access to the Internet and to view websites. Some examples of web browsers are Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Safari.
A search engine is a website that you use to look up information. Examples of search engines are Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
Some people get confused between Google Chrome, the web browser, and Google, the search engine. These are two different things. Everyone's heard of Google.com. You use it to search the web for information on a topic of your choice. Google Chrome is made by Google, but is a program installed on your computer, more specifically, a web browser.
Web Page or Website?
Which term should you use? You can think of a website like a book. A book consists of a collection of pages. So does a website. The pages within a website are called web pages and are linked together by Links. NYTimes.com is a website. Each individual article you view would be a web page.
Desktop and Homepage
The Desktop is the screen that you see when you first turn on your computer. Usually there is a picture or solid color in the background and several small images on top of it, called icons.
A Homepage refers to the first thing that you see when you go onto the internet. When you open Internet Explorer or Google Chrome (or Firefox or Safari), what is the first thing that you see? That page is called your Homepage. Your Homepage can be changed to whatever you want it to be. Most people like to have a search engine as their homepage so they can easily perform a search as soon as they access the internet.
For clarification on more terms and topics, contact me for private lessons.
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