What does firefox do

More About Mozilla. More Mozilla Innovation. A web browser takes you anywhere on the internet, letting you see text, images and video from anywhere in the world. The web is a vast and powerful tool. Over the course of a few decades, the internet has changed the way we work, the way we play and the way we interact with one another. We use web browsers like Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Apple Safari every day, but do we understand what they are and how they work? A web browser takes you anywhere on the internet.

It retrieves information from other parts of the web and displays it on your desktop or mobile device. The information is transferred using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, which defines how text, images and video are transmitted on the web. This information needs to be shared and displayed in a consistent format so that people using any browser, anywhere in the world can see the information.

Sadly, not all browser makers choose to interpret the format in the same way. For users, this means that a website can look and function differently. Creating consistency between browsers, so that any user can enjoy the internet, regardless of the browser they choose, is called web standards.

When the web browser fetches data from an internet connected server, it uses a piece of software called a rendering engine to translate that data into text and images. This data is written in Hypertext Markup Language HTML and web browsers read this code to create what we see, hear and experience on the internet. Hyperlinks allow users to follow a path to other pages or sites on the web. Every webpage, image and video has its own unique Uniform Resource Locator URL , which is also known as a web address.

When a browser visits a server for data, the web address tells the browser where to look for each item that is described in the html, which then tells the browser where it goes on the web page. Websites save information about you in files called cookies.

They are saved on your computer for the next time you visit that site. If you update your Firefox to version 10 see Updating Firefox , Firefox is faster, more reliable, and more secure than IE8.

It is a matter of personal preference though. Give Firefox a try make sure you update first, the version you have is very out of date.

Which ever one you like, use. If it doesnot take more memory space, then I will give it a try. Obviously having programs installed is going to take up a bit of hard drive space. However, hard drive space usage doens't slow Windows down, it is how many programs you have open that can slow Windows down. On my computer, firefox takes up only 36Mb of disk space. A lot of sites keep track of your browsing activity.

They can also do it to help make their sites easier to use. But almost all tracking is done to serve you ads. Online ads are customized based on your browsing. Been searching for a new pair of sandals?

The cookie tracks you, and so do Shoe Store X ads. Cookies were first used to customize websites, keep track of shopping carts, and maintain online account security, but today most are used to help companies serve targeted ads.

The cookie is your unique ID. Your information is stored in the cloud along with that ID. That can include which sites you visited, how long you visited them, what you clicked on, your language preferences and more. Cookies also help advertisers deliver ads in your social media feeds. They can track every click, post, and comment. What does that mean? It also blocks tracking cookies by default. In Chrome, incognito mode does the same thing. In either case, your actions could be visible to the websites you visit, your employer or school, or your internet service provider ISP.

Also, if you sign into any accounts, your browsing activity may be saved to that account. Firefox goes beyond private browsing with Tracking Protection. It stops companies from following you around the web. It uses a list of tracking sites compiled by Disconnect. Whenever a cookie tries to reach a site on the list, Tracking Protection blocks it.