Do you still use Internet Explorer or Windows 8?
asks Peter Clarke of PC PAL
Browsers are programs that allow you to search the internet and there are an increasing number of browsers available for your use. You probably use one of the most common browsers: Internet Explorer (IE) or Chrome and with increasing use of Windows 10 some of you are starting to use Microsoft's new browser; Edge.
Whichever you use routinely, you will probably have IE on your computer as it is built into Windows software and it might be the best browser for those older websites that have been written to work with it.
What you need to know is that if you have Windows 7, from Tuesday 12th January 2016 versions below IE11 will have received their last ever security update. This means you need to update your IE to version 11 for optimum security. Users of Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 will automatically have IE11. Windows 8 will also be unsupported from this time so if you use 8 then you need to upgrade to 8.1.
What do you need to do?
- If you use Windows 7 check the version of IE that you use and, if necessary upgrade to IE11
- If you use Windows 8 you need to update to Windows 8.1
One way to check the version of IE you are using is to open the program choose 'Help', 'About Internet Explorer'
One way to check if you are already using Windows 8.1 is to look in the bottom left hand corner of the 'Desktop' screen to see if you have the Windows Start icon - 
If you want to discuss this further or need any help with the upgrade please don’t hesitate to call me.
