IT Glossary
What is a browser?
The program through which users see the web — Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox — and the stage on which your site has to perform flawlessly.
Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox: a browser is the program that receives a site's code — HTML, CSS, JavaScript — and turns it into the page you look at and click on. For an online business the browser is the stage, because customers never see your website as such, only their own browser's interpretation of it, and interpretations differ. A site tested solely in Chrome on the developer's laptop can have unusable buttons in Safari on an iPhone, which is where a substantial share of higher-spending customers happen to be. Two practical consequences follow. Testing on the browsers and devices your actual audience uses is part of delivering a professional site, not an optional extra, and your own analytics matter far more than global market-share charts when deciding what to support. One more thing worth remembering: the modern browser is also an application platform, so almost everything that once required an installed program — invoicing, video calls, design tools — now runs inside it.
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Why it matters for your business
Your audience reached on any device
A site built to standards works across every significant browser, so you do not lose iPhone customers because testing stopped at Chrome.
No installation for company applications
Web applications run in the browser already present on every computer — nothing to install and no arguments about which version somebody has.
Automatic security updates
Modern browsers update themselves and isolate malicious sites, which makes them a free security ally for a company with no IT department.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my site look different in Safari compared with Chrome?
Each browser interprets web standards with small differences, and Safari on iOS has well-known quirks. A professional developer tests on the major browsers and handles the differences; if a site works only in Chrome, testing simply did not happen.
Do we still need to support old browsers such as Internet Explorer?
No. Internet Explorer is officially retired, and supporting it added cost for no return. The reasonable target is the current versions of Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox and Samsung Internet, plus a look at your own analytics for any special cases.
Does it matter which browser our employees use?
For security, yes. The browser should update automatically and ideally be managed centrally with controlled extensions — dubious extensions are a frequent and badly underestimated channel for data leaving a company.
Let’s talk about your project
Message us on WhatsApp or send an email — you talk directly to a developer.
office@northdan.com · +40 752 070 247