The Tlog – a technology blog

(this article includes parts adapted from my wiki)

A lot of people (not as many as some years ago, but still too many) have no idea what a “browser” is, yet they browse the Internet (or, more precisely, the World Wide Web) regularly.

How can that be? Well, due to some clever marketing (such as putting “Internet” in the application’s name), typical user ignorance and dislike of learning (people typically learn the bare minimum to do something, and then do everything in their power, including heavy effort if necessary, not to have to learn an iota more) and the fact that most users tend to stick to “whatever came with the computer” (in fact, with the operating system), those people use Internet Explorer (IE) without thinking, without realizing that

1. there exists a kind of program called “a web browser”,
2. IE is one, and
3. IE is not the only one, there are others.

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Spyware is a big problem these days. Most Windows PCs have a lot of it, without the user’s knowledge; many crashes, slowdown, popups and browser hijacking (for instance, changing the home page without your consent, and you can’t set it back to what you want) are symptoms of a spyware infestation.

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