IF YOU THINK THE ONLY WAY TO VIEW A WEBSITE ON YOUR COMPUTER IS BY OPENING INTERNET EXPLORER, IT’S TIME TO BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS.

Excellent alternatives to Microsoft’s built-in web browser have existed for years, yet many people still do not realize they have options. By far, one of the best browsers available today is Chrome, and Google makes it available to the public free of charge.

Here are a few reasons to consider switching to Google’s portal to the World Wide Web.

Continuous Updating.

Once you install Google Chrome, you will never have to manually check for updates again. Chrome automatically downloads and installs the latest release version without you even having to think about it. If you are still running Windows XP, as many people are, the latest version of Internet Explorer is not even compatible with your operating system because Microsoft has decided to drop support for XP.

Simplicity.

Of all the major web browsers on the market, Chrome’s user interface is the cleanest available. When you start the browser, all you’ll see is one or more tabs, a few simple buttons and an address bar. The controls are highly intuitive.

You can easily rearrange the tabs and even move them between browser windows by dragging them around. The address bar is also a search bar, so if you don’t know the URL of the site you are looking for, enter a few keywords and Google will find it for you. Compare this to Internet Explorer, which has an abundance of buttons and menus cluttering your screen that you will only use rarely if at all.

Security.

Chrome has a plethora of security features to ensure your browsing experience is safe and does not result in your computer being compromised. It prevents attempts to redirect your browser to harmful websites; warns you whenever you are attempting to access content that may be unsafe and highlights site domains in the address bar, so you can always be sure you are visiting the right website. Although Microsoft has made significant strides in recent years, Internet Explorer has been historically notorious for providing a portal for spyware to enter your system.

Extendibility.

The Chrome Web Store offers tens of thousands of extensions for the standard Chrome browser. Whether you want weather reports, sports scores, games, shopping assistants or even accounting software, you can get it all built into your web browser. The best part is that most of extensions are free and install almost instantly without you even having to restart Chrome. There are also thousands of options for changing the appearance of your browser to suit your tastes. Internet Explorer doesn’t even begin to offer this level of customization; if Microsoft doesn’t think it should be part of your browser, you can’t have it.

There’s no risk to you in test driving Chrome. It’s free, easy to install and if you don’t like it, you can always go back to Internet Explorer. Despite Internet Explorer being packaged with every Windows PC on the market, Chrome has continued to gain market share. It’s time you found out first hand why.