About Web Browsers

Whatis.com defines a browser as “an application program that provides a way to look at and interact with all the information on the World Wide Web. The word “browser” seems to have originated prior to the Web as a generic term for user interfaces that let you browse text files online. Technically, a Web browser is a client program that uses the Hypertext Transfer Protocol to make requests of Web servers throughout the Internet on behalf of the browser user.”

Essentially, a browser is a program that lets you retrieve, view, and interact with documents on the World Wide Web.

There are many different browsers available. Internet Explorer (a Microsoft product) is the most widely available but there are many other popular browsers, such as Netscape, Safari, Firefox and Opera. As web technology evolves, the differences in browsers become most apparent in how they handle tasks more sophisticated than simply displaying static web pages.

You can have a variety of browsers installed on one computer and use them at your discretion but generally your system will have a default browser that will launch to perform most automatic tasks (such as clicking a link in an email). Sometimes when you run into difficulties using WebCT it is due to incorrect browser settings or even browser add-ons and toolbars. These can be difficult to correct and often the easiest thing is to switch to a different browser.

Important: Oakton-hosted online courses (some courses are hosted on non-Oakton servers) use WebCT 4.x. As with the last few version of WebCT it has become critical that users make sure they are using compatible browsers. Incompatible browsers may initially seem to work then fail while performing certain actions. See WebCT’s Browser Tuneup page for more specific information on what browsers/versions will work. In either case the browser should have Java and JavaScript enabled to make WebCT and any other sites you might link to work properly. Popup killers, spyware/adware, and add-on browser search bars can also cause problems.

AOL’s browser has traditionally been strongly discouraged by the WebCT people and most other course management software companies because, among other things, it doesn't’t seem to handle Java & JavaScript well. AOL users should connect to AOL then minimize the window and launch either IE or Netscape. It’s not the AOL connection that causes the major problems but the default AOL browser (though there can be some problems with timeouts if AOL “thinks” there’s no activity). Simple workarounds are available; see special Instructions for AOL users for more details.

You can download WebCT-compatible browsers from the WebCT site.

But before you download or buy, make sure you don’t have either IE or Netscape already on your computer. If your computer is a Pentium running Windows 95 or higher it would be unusual to not have at least one of them of recent vintage already installed. Check the icons, the start menu, and do a file search if you need to.

If you do need to download a new browser, remember that after downloading you have to INSTALL it. Directions for installing a web browser are available here.