Use a modern web browser (please!)

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A web browser is the program you use to view web pages in. The most common programs used are:

  • Internet Explorer (Microsoft)
  • Google Chrome (Google)
  • Safari (Apple)
  • Firefox (Mozilla foundation – community created)
  • Opera (Opera)

There are many others but these five cover the vast majority of users. All these programs display web pages, but not in the same way. The main point of this article is not to say use XXXXX program  because it’s the best – none is ‘the best’ – but to use the latest version of your personal preference (unless it’s Internet Explorer and you’re on Windows XP…keep reading).

Use the latest version of your chosen browser for two very good reasons:

  1. It will be the most secure. The most resistant to viruses and malicious code.
  2. It will be most able of using the latest web technologies. Web pages will look good, as they’re supposed to.

Reason 1. is self explanatory.
Reason 2. may seem unimportant, but why not experience the web in the best possible way? Old versions of browsers can’t easily display many visual styles and pages features. There are workarounds, but these aren’t perfect and don’t make life easy for website developers. Modern code is efficient, saving bandwidth which even though we have broadband is useful as other things like bandwidth hungry HD video can load faster.

If everyone used modern browsers the web would be faster, safer and more beautiful.

Which versions should you be using? At the time of writing (November 2012) these are the latest versions:

  • Internet Explorer (Microsoft) = 9 (Windows only, discontinued and dated on Macs)
  • Google Chrome (Google) = 23
  • Safari (Apple) = 6 (if you’re on a Mac), 5 (if you’re on Windows)
  • Firefox (Mozilla foundation – community created) = 17
  • Opera (Opera) = 12

IMPORTANT FOR WINDOWS XP USERS: If you’re on XP, the latest version of the default browser you can use is 8 – it’s therefore recommended to use another browser. The latest versions of Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera can all be installed on Windows XP. Chrome is great because it runs much faster than Internet Explorer.

Here are links to download the latest versions:

Thanks for reading.

Keep your computer up-to-date.

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Important ways to keep updated to keep your computer safe.

    1. Update to the latest version of your internet browser you use.
      The latest versions allow for some pretty awesome webpage design, as well as better security.We recommend Google Chrome orFirefox. Why? Many reasons but two that stand out are: Fast to load and auto updating.Get the latest version of Safari, Opera orInternet Explorer (Vista/7 = v.9 / XP = v.8).
    2. Keep your computer up to date by using windows update. It may already be up-to-date depending on whether automatic updates are enabled, but it’s easy to check the by clicking Start > All Programs > Windows Update and then clicking the ‘Check for updates’ button. Security is the primary reason here, as well as possible additional features or performance gains (although most updates will have a slight performance hit – usually a necessary evil).
    3. Back up thing you don’t want to lose. There’s so many ways to do this. The easiest is to store things on your computer and copy them to a USB drive. Remember you could still drop you backup drive – we seen many customers lose priceless photos when this happens. We recommend a backup of a backup! Sounds excessive, but why not as the price of storage is pretty cheap these days. “Could backup” is also worth investigation as this will become the norm eventually. For photos, it’s worth taking time to back up you collect to DVDs – each can hold 4.5GB so it should take too long for all you photos to be on disc that can be stored away safely.

Your data will be safe with us.

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Recently many customers have expressed concern about having their computer fixed. They’re rightfully concerned as their data has been lost, unnecessarily, when other companies or friends have ‘fixed’ their computers.

Horncastle Computer Services will never destroy your files without discussing options with you first. It’s often avoidable even when the computer is seemingly beyond repair. Data can nearly always be backed-up and we’re more into backing-up and recovering data than deleting it! You wouldn’t expect a cleaner to throw away your photos; a fridge repairperson to throw away your magnets; or computer technician to delete your documents – so you can be assured we won’t.