A web browser (commonly referred to as a browser) is a software application

for retrieving, presenting and traversing information resources on the World

Wide Web. An information resource is identifed by a Uniform Resource
dentifer (UR!UR") and may be a web page, image, video or other piece of
content.#$% &yperlin's present in resources enable users easily to navigate
their browsers to related resources.
Although browsers are primarily intended to use the World Wide Web, they
can also be used to access information provided by web servers in private
networ's or fles in fle systems.he frst web browser was invented in $(() by
*ir +im ,erners-"ee. t was called WorldWideWeb and was later renamed
.e/us.#0% +he frst commonly available web browser with a graphical user
interface was 1rwise. +he development of 1rwise was initiated by Robert
2ailliau.
3arc Andreessen, inventor of .etscape
n $((0, browser software was further innovated by 3arc Andreessen with the
release of 3osaic, 4the world5s frst popular browser4,#6% which made the
World Wide Web system easy to use and more accessible to the average
person. Andreesen5s browser spar'ed the internet boom of the $(()s.#6% +he
introduction of 3osaic in $((0 7 one of the frst graphical web browsers 7 led
to an e/plosion in web use. Andreessen, the leader of the 3osaic team at
.2*A, soon started his own company, named .etscape, and released the
3osaic-in8uenced .etscape .avigator in $((6, which 9uic'ly became the
world5s most popular browser, accounting for (): of all web use at its pea'
(see usage share of web browsers).
3icrosoft responded with its nternet 1/plorer in $((;, also heavily in8uenced
by 3osaic, initiating the industry5s frst browser war. ,undled with Windows,
nternet 1/plorer gained dominance in the web browser mar'et< nternet
1/plorer usage share pea'ed at over (;: by =))=.#;%
WorldWideWeb for .e>+, released in $(($, was the frst web browser.#?%
@pera debuted in $((?< it has never achieved widespread use, having less
than =: browser usage share as of Aebruary =)$= according to .et
Applications.#B% ts @pera-mini version has an additive share, in April =)$$
amounting to $.$: of overall browser use, but focused on the fast-growing
mobile phone web browser mar'et, being preinstalled on over 6) million
phones. t is also available on several other embedded systems, including
.intendo5s Wii video game console.
n $((C, .etscape launched what was to become the 3oDilla Aoundation in an
attempt to produce a competitive browser using the open source software
model. +hat browser would eventually evolve into Airefo/, which developed a
respectable following while still in the beta stage of development< shortly
after the release of Airefo/ $.) in late =))6, Airefo/ (all versions) accounted
for B: of browser use.#;% As of August =)$$, Airefo/ has a =C: usage share.
#B%
Apple5s *afari had its frst beta release in Eanuary =))0< as of April =)$$, it
had a dominant share of Apple-based web browsing, accounting for Fust over
B: of the entire browser mar'et.#B%
+he most recent maFor entrant to the browser mar'et is 2hrome, frst
released in *eptember =))C. 2hrome5s ta'e-up has increased signifcantly
year by year, by doubling its usage share from C: to $?: by August =)$$.
+his increase seems largely to be at the e/pense of nternet 1/plorer, whose
share has tended to decrease from month to month.#C% n Gecember =)$$,
2hrome overtoo' nternet 1/plorer C as the most widely used web browser
but still had lower usage than all versions of nternet 1/plorer combined.#(%
2hrome5s user-base continued to grow and in 3ay =)$=, 2hrome5s usage
passed the usage of all versions of nternet 1/plorer combined.#$)% ,y April
=)$6, 2hrome5s usage hit 6;:.#$$%
,usiness models
+his section needs additional citations for verifcation. Hlease help improve
this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be
challenged and removed. (Eanuary =)$6)
+he ways that web browser ma'ers fund their development costs has
changed over time. +he frst web browser, WorldWideWeb, was a research
proFect. .etscape .avigator was originally sold commercially, as was @pera<
.etscape no longer e/ists and has been replaced with the free Airefo/, while
@pera is now downloadable free of charge.
nternet 1/plorer, on the other hand, was from its frst release always
included with the Windows operating system (and furthermore was
downloadable for no e/tra charge), and therefore it was funded partly by the
sales of Windows to computer manufacturers and direct to users. nternet
1/plorer also used to be available for the 3ac. t is li'ely that releasing 1 for
the 3ac was part of 3icrosoft5s overall strategy to fght threats to its 9uasi-
monopoly platform dominance - threats such as web standards and Eava - by
ma'ing some web developers, or at least their managers, assume that there
was 4no need4 to develop for anything other than nternet 1/plorer (an
assumption that later proved to be badly mista'en, with the rise of Airefo/
and 2hrome). n this respect, 1 may have contributed to Windows and
3icrosoft applications sales in another way, through tric'ing organisations
into inadvertent 4loc'-in4 into the 3icrosoft platform.
*afari and 3obile *afari were li'ewise always included with @* > and i@*
respectively, so, similarly, they were originally funded by sales of Apple
computers and mobile devices, and formed part of the overall Apple
e/perience to customers.
+oday, most commercial web browsers are paid by search engine companies
to ma'e the search engine their default search engine (the most valuable
priDe) or to include them as another option. Aor e/ample, Ioogle pays
3oDilla, the ma'er of Airefo/, to ma'e Ioogle *earch the default search
engine in Airefo/. 3oDilla ma'es so much money from this deal that it does
not need to charge users for Airefo/. +he reason search engine companies are
willing to pay for such deals is that such decisions drive traJc their way,
increasing ad revenue. As of =)$0, Ioogle5s search ad revenue is still a very
important source of revenue. Ioogle probably does not 4pay itself4 to ma'e
Ioogle *earch the default search engine in Ioogle 2hrome, but regardless, it
derives ad revenue from that choice, so that indirectly funds the development
of Ioogle 2hrome.
3any less-well-'nown free software browsers, such as Kon9ueror, were hardly
funded at all and were developed mostly by volunteers free of charge.
Aunction
+he primary purpose of a web browser is to bring information resources to
the user (4retrieval4 or 4fetching4), allowing them to view the information
(4display4, 4rendering4), and then access other information (4navigation4,
4following lin's4).
+his process begins when the user inputs a Uniform Resource "ocator (UR"),
for e/ample httpL!!en.wi'ipedia.org!, into the browser. +he pref/ of the UR",
the Uniform Resource dentifer or UR, determines how the UR" will be
interpreted. +he most commonly used 'ind of UR starts with httpL and
identifes a resource to be retrieved over the &yperte/t +ransfer Hrotocol
(&++H).#$=% 3any browsers also support a variety of other pref/es, such as
httpsL for &++H*, ftpL for the Aile +ransfer Hrotocol, and fleL for local fles.
Href/es that the web browser cannot directly handle are often handed oM to
another application entirely. Aor e/ample, mailtoL URs are usually passed to
the user5s default e-mail application, and newsL URs are passed to the user5s
default newsgroup reader.
n the case of http, https, fle, and others, once the resource has been
retrieved the web browser will display it. &+3" and associated content
(image fles, formatting information such as 2**, etc.) is passed to the
browser5s layout engine to be transformed from mar'up to an interactive
document, a process 'nown as 4rendering4. Aside from &+3", web browsers
can generally display any 'ind of content that can be part of a web page.
3ost browsers can display images, audio, video, and >3" fles, and often
have plug-ins to support Alash applications and Eava applets. Upon
encountering a fle of an unsupported type or a fle that is set up to be
downloaded rather than displayed, the browser prompts the user to save the
fle to dis'.
nformation resources may contain hyperlin's to other information resources.
1ach lin' contains the UR of a resource to go to. When a lin' is clic'ed, the
browser navigates to the resource indicated by the lin'5s target UR, and the
process of bringing content to the user begins again.
Aeatures
Aor more details on this topic, see 2omparison of web browsers.
Available web browsers range in features from minimal, te/t-based user
interfaces with bare-bones support for &+3" to rich user interfaces
supporting a wide variety of fle formats and protocols. ,rowsers which
include additional components to support e-mail, Usenet news, and nternet
Relay 2hat (R2), are sometimes referred to as 4nternet suites4 rather than
merely 4web browsers4.#$0%#$6%#$;%
All maFor web browsers allow the user to open multiple information resources
at the same time, either in diMerent browser windows or in diMerent tabs of
the same window. 3aFor browsers also include pop-up bloc'ers to prevent
unwanted windows from 4popping up4 without the user5s consent.#$?%#$B%#$C%
#$(%
3ost web browsers can display a list of web pages that the user has
boo'mar'ed so that the user can 9uic'ly return to them. ,oo'mar's are also
called 4Aavorites4 in nternet 1/plorer. n addition, all maFor web browsers
have some form of built-in web feed aggregator. n Airefo/, web feeds are
formatted as 4live boo'mar's4 and behave li'e a folder of boo'mar's
corresponding to recent entries in the feed.#=)% n @pera, a more traditional
feed reader is included which stores and displays the contents of the feed.
#=$%
Aurthermore, most browsers can be e/tended via plug-ins, downloadable
components that provide additional features.
User interface
*ome home media devices now include web browsers, li'e this "I *mart +N.
+he browser is controlled using an on-screen 'eyboard and "I5s 43agic
3otion4 remote.
3ost maFor web browsers have these user interface elements in commonL#==%
,ac' and forward buttons to go bac' to the previous resource and forward
respectively.
A refresh or reload button to reload the current resource.
A stop button to cancel loading the resource. n some browsers, the stop
button is merged with the reload button.
A home button to return to the user5s home page.
An address bar to input the Uniform Resource dentifer (UR) of the desired
resource and display it.
A search bar to input terms into a search engine. n some browsers, the
search bar is merged with the address bar.
A status bar to display progress in loading the resource and also the UR of
lin's when the cursor hovers over them, and page Dooming capability.
+he viewport, the visible area of the webpage within the browser window.
+he ability to view the &+3" source for a page.
3aFor browsers also possess incremental fnd features to search within a web
page.
Hrivacy and security
3ain articleL ,rowser security
3ost browsers support &++H *ecure and oMer 9uic' and easy ways to delete
the web cache, coo'ies, and browsing history. Aor a comparison of the current
security vulnerabilities of browsers, see comparison of web browsers.
*tandards support
1arly web browsers supported only a very simple version of &+3". +he rapid
development of proprietary web browsers led to the development of non-
standard dialects of &+3", leading to problems with interoperability. 3odern
web browsers support a combination of standards-based and de facto &+3"
and >&+3", which should be rendered in the same way by all browsers.
1/tensibility
A browser e/tension is a computer program that e/tends the functionality of
a web browser. 1very maFor web browser supports the development of
browser e/tensions.
2omponents