Browsers Display Information Differently

Browsers are HTML reading software. But the problem is that not all browsers will display the same HTML page identically. This means that when you create pages for the Web, you must be careful to check your pages on different platforms (does it look different on a Mac?) and on different browsers (does it look different in Netscape?)

Why do browsers display information differently?

In the early days of the Web, a browser did not even display text and images together in one screen. Since then, there have been continual updates to the HTML markup language. There is a group that oversees standards, the World Wide Web Consortium, www.w3.com. Over time, the group has made decisions on what new tags should be adopted. The Web began with the basics, the tags we used in class to mark up a resume into HTML. But eventually as the Web gained popularity, there were requests for more abilities. Designers, for example, wanted more control over fonts, colors, and positioning of elements on the screen. So new tags were adopted. Older browsers did not understand the new tags and new versions of browsers were released (Netscape 4.0, Explorer 4.0, Netscape 6.0, Explorer, 6.0 etc.).

Browsers began adding their own features that other browsers couldn't recognize. These hypertext links change color when rolled over in Explorer, but not in Netscape.