When building websites it is critical to understand the differences in the browsers your audience uses. Different browsers will present the same page content with slight differences, so it's important for the developer to optimize their design and code to work universally the same across all platforms.

Internet Explorer:

With approximately 90% of internet users using IE, this makes it the most used browser on the Internet. Most people simply use IE because it came bundled with their windows installation. As a web developer, IE is the greatest common denominator so we absolutely need to ensure that our work displays properly on this browser. On a technical note, IE is generally more relaxed with its interpretation of HTML code which makes it a bad browser for testing pages.

Netscape Navigator:

Before Microsoft released Windows 95 bundled with Internet Explorer in 1995, Netscape was the most commonly used Internet browser. It is still used by some die-hard users and used more commonly found on Macintosh computers. Netscape has some known problems with interpreting javascript, advanced cascading style-sheets and layer positioning, so generally developers need to build work-arounds for Netscape users.

Opera:

Opera is a free Internet browser which is more strict then IE in its interpretation of HTML. It features pop-up blocking, tabbed windows, themes, global style-sheets, mouse-gestures, and email features. We personally liked this browser when we used it.

Firefox:

Firefox is the newest browser released by Mozilla with sixteen million current users and growing fast. It is the simplest, fastest, most secure and efficient browser to use. It features popup blocking, spam prevention, embedded google search, and a whole bunch of other stuff! Its a free download and super easy to setup, so we highly recommend it to people who want a better Internet experience.