Ok, I feel secure enough in ths site that I don't think y'all are going to make fun of me or accuse me of being a 'troll' (one site labeled me as that and I had to ask our net tech guy what that meant!) Anyway, I have never understood what a browser is. And noone has been able to explain it to my satisfaction. (I just kind of nod my head and go "Oh, Ok")

I get that I need an ISP to get online (I have AOL), and that Google etal, are search engines (I liken them to the old card catalogs in the library) (I'm in my 50's) But I don't get what IE does for me. What is it? What does it do? Why do I need it?

It appears to be vital if you work offline (which I don't and I don't even know what that means anyway!) But, it also apparently is necessary for the way I access the web (excuse me if I'm not using the right lingo!) I've reset my internet options many a time! (which raises another query -- it seems those options are altered when I visit certain websites. Am I right?)

So I'd appreciate it if someone could clarify this for me (in layman's terms, please)

By the way, I tried to post this under 'Internet Help' but everytime I went that route, I got the "Error 504 -- Gateway Timeout" message (but I got into everything else I clicked on.,)

Be kind!

There are no stupid questions

I want to point you to a great site for info like this-- not that you cant get answers here-- or that we're not willing to provide them... it's just that explanations like this can be found all in one place.

Just click this link:

Newbie.org, Helping Newbies Since 1996

on the left side of the first page there's a "words to know"

http://www.newbie.org/essentials/essnt000.html

explains-- in layman's terms... MANY terms you will see on the web.
You should "bookmark" this site-- for someone just starting out --it is a treasure trove.

Hello USMCPJG,

A web browser is what you using now to "surf the internet". When you connect to the internet, it is the icon you click on, that's starts a web browser, which allows you to read web documents, such as this one. Every page you look at on the web is essentially a web document. An off-line web document would be the same document, saved on your PC instead of the internet.

Browsing is a computer term for reading, I think would be the best way to describe it. AOL have their own web browser, but Internet Explorer may be what you would use if you were with another Internet Service Provider. Everybody has Internet Explorer these days, even if you don't want it, it comes part of Windows. You can normally find Internet Explorer, in Start, All Programs, Internet Explorer. The are many other web browsers you can use these days such as Mozilla Firefox, Neo, Netscape Navigator e.t.c.

EDIT: Sorry bills, didn't realise you posted there.

No Worries M8-- I just wanted to point out that site to our new friend-- it's hard sometimes to get the very basic info... that place was invaluable to me when I was first starting out

Looks cool, it even has a smiley face guide , nice find bills, I'll keep that one handy for other newbies!

It's a great "defense" against those techno-snob sites out there (NOT like this one !)--- where they will ridicule a person for not understanding the lingo. I decided very early on to avoid those places-- who needs that ??

Thanks guys -- looks like my kind of site! But don't worry, I won't forget y'all! :- )
TTYL (see, I'm catching on already!)