Version: 2008
  • On The Insider: Britney's Bikini-Clad Top 10
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Browsers

If you're looking for browsers or browser extensions, CNET Download.com has you covered. We feature all the latest versions of Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and more, as well as Firefox extensions, Internet Explorer add-ons, even RSS readers. If you want to surf the Web, CNET Download.com is the place to start. See all 924 products in this category.

for the week of: November 08Downloads
  1. 1.
    Flash Player Mobile

    Web Browsers10,599

  2. 2.
    Opera Mini

    Web Browsers7,452

  3. 3.
    Opera Mini

    Web Browsers5,621

  4. 4.
  5. Try Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Exchange Server 2010
  6. 5.
    Viigo for BlackBerry

    Newsreaders & RSS Readers1,196

  7. 6.
  8. 7.
    Kinoma FreePlay

    Web Browsers1,123

  9. Sync all your files across all devices including PC, Mac, Blackberry.
  10. 8.
    Bolt Mobile Browser

    Web Browsers953

  11. 9.
    Sompy Media Player

    Web Browsers602

  12. 10.
    Opera Mini

    Web Browsers547

See all most popular software

  1. Build your own photography website for free
Release date
  1. White House Checker for iPhone Nov 09

    Newsreaders & RSS Readers

  2. NASA Checker for iPhone Nov 09

    Newsreaders & RSS Readers

  3. Opera Mobile for Symbian Nov 05

    Web Browsers

  4. Kinoma FreePlay Nov 04

    Web Browsers

  5. G Rss Pro for iPhone Nov 02

    Newsreaders & RSS Readers

  6. SecFocus RSS Reader for iPhone Oct 30

    Newsreaders & RSS Readers

  7. Science News Updates for iPhone Oct 29

    Newsreaders & RSS Readers

  8. Flitter for iPhone Oct 28

    Newsreaders & RSS Readers

  9. Gardening News and Updates for iPhone Oct 23

    Newsreaders & RSS Readers

  10. Baseball News Reader for iPhone Oct 23

    Newsreaders & RSS Readers

See all new releases

  1. 1.
    Viigo for BlackBerry

    Access news, weather, entertainment, live sports, markets and stock portfolios with a single click.

  2. 2.
    gDocsBar

    Quickly upload, access, and manage Google documents from a handy Firefox sidebar.

  3. 3.
    Skyfire for Windows Mobile (Touch Screen)

    Browse your favorite Web sites exactly like you do on your PC.

  4. 4.
    NYTimes for iPhone

    Enjoy The New York Times on your iPhone.

  5. 5.
    Ziibii (iPhone)

    Read RSS, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook feeds and more in a unique way.

  6. 6.
    Newsstand for iPhone

    Read all your news feeds in an iPhone RSS reader that also syncs with Google Reader.

  7. 7.
    Opera Mini

    Opera Mini is a fast and tiny Web browser, that allows you to access the full Internet on your Palm OS device. Take all your favorite Web sites on...

  8. 8.
    Opera Mini

    Browse the Web quickly with your mobile device.

  9. 9.
    PocketMusic

    Play your favorite MP3 files on your Pocket PC.

  10. 10.
    Super Mario Bros. 3 Firefox theme

    Add a retro videogame theme to Mozilla Firefox.

See all editor's picks

from the download blog

After 5 years, Firefox faces new challenges

Posted by Stephen Shankland on Nov 08, 2009
Mozilla helped reshape the Web since releasing Firefox 1.0 five years ago. Now it's got a reawakened Microsoft and Google Chrome to reckon with.

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an introduction to Browsers

Browsers, often called Web browsers, are software clients that allow users to navigate to sites on the World Wide Web. The majority of these Web sites use the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), but many browsers can also interpret other protocols, including FTP, RSS, and P2P protocols such as BitTorrent. Hypertext pioneer Tim Berners-Lee created the first ever Web browser, WorldWideWeb, in 1990, but the software didn't become popular until the release of NCSA Mosaic, the first graphical client.

Browsers truly hit the mainstream with the launch of Netscape Navigator, which was later shortened to simply Netscape, though the free client's popularity was radically affected by the 1995 release of Internet Explorer, Microsoft's entry into the browser market. In the years since, IE has completely dominated the market, only recently losing ground to alternative browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and Opera.

Aside from general Web browsers, various subsets of the category offer special services. Offline browsers cache content from the Internet for future reference when you're not connected to a network. Newsreaders manage content from Usenet newsgroups and syndicated feeds.

In recent years, the open-source browser Mozilla Firefox has earned praise for the ability of third-party developers to easily create extensions that add functionality. Among the thousands of home-brewed add-ons for Firefox, we've narrowed down our favorites in a collection of the best. The Microsoft browser also allows for IE add-ons, but its closed framework makes it a bit more difficult for developers.