What is a browser? What is a search engine? Some people may hear these questions and say “Yes, what is the difference?” while others may be shocked that this is a question that is still asked. If you are one of those people that do not know the difference between a browser and a search engine, don’t feel bad. I will explain the difference.
I will start with “What is a browser” since it is required to use a “search engine”. A browser (also referred to as a web browser or internet browser) is an application that allows us to search the internet. Whoa! Hold on a minute, “isn’t the big blue ‘e’ the internet?” No, the “Big blue ‘e’ ” is not the internet, in fact it is an application we call a web browser.
You see, a web browser is what we use to access the internet and all of its contents. It’s like a tool for the job. It is no different than opening a program to access the functionality of the program. Another way to look at it could be like a tool box. A tool box is not the tool but you open it to access the tools inside. Now that you know what a browser is, I will introduce different browsers that you can use. The most common browsers today are: Firefox, Safari (for Mac’s), Google Chrome and Internet Explorer (the “Big Blue E”).
Now let’s talk about “Search Engines”. Search engines are a web application that you access through your browser. So what are some search engines? We have Google (yes there is a browser called Google Chrome and then their search engine called Google). This may confuse some people but as long as you can remember Google Chrome is the browser and once you open a browser and you go to google.com or google.ca that is the search engine. Next we have Bing, Yahoo, and many others, but these are the most widely used search engines.
Now you should have a better understanding of “Browsers” and “Search Engines”. Just remember, you open your browser like any other application on your desktop or device. Example, Internet Explorer (the “Big Blue E”), Firefox, Google Chrome, or Safari and then you navigate to google.com or google.ca, yahoo.ca, bing, or any other search engines you prefer. Keep in mind your search engines can be the home page or the “starting page” when you first open your browser.
Different Browsers have some differences within them. Some offer little built in features that others do not. This is generally not a big concern for the average user but I will say that some people experiment and learn what some of the features are and do. They will then start preferring a particular browser. If you want to try different browsers you can download and install them from their websites.
Firefox:
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/?utm_source=firefox-com&utm_medium=referral
Google Chrome: