YOUR browser is quite possibly the most important piece of software on your PC. It's the thing that lets you browse the web.

It's probably Internet Explorer, the icon on your desktop with the little blue 'e'. But it doesn't have to be.

There's a growing number of people who say Internet Explorer, despite being the most popular browser around, is by no means the best.

The best alternative is Firefox. This year it reached 1.0 status -- geek speak for "ready to face the world" -- and was released, amid the pretty impressive Get Firefox campaign, for free software.

Internet Explorer has security vulnerabilities that can be responsible for your computer being invaded by worms, viruses and other nasties. Firefox provides protection from these and many other annoying things that lurk on the web (like irritating pop-up advertisements).

It also includes some features, such as tabbed browsing and find-as-you-type, that IE lacks.

It's free and it could make your computer more secure. What more could you want?

WEBLOGS are becoming so popular (some might say so part of the establishment) that even seven-year-olds are using them.

Sussex-based teacher John Mills started up an after-school computer club, and took the chance to get the kids running their own sites using simple weblogging software.

His ideas were hailed as a huge step forward for junior education and the scheme won the Best Primary ICT Project award (see www.hangletonweblogs.org).

Crucially, the children who joined the club showed improvements across their school work, not just in IT lessons. Using the weblogs gave them a sense of responsibility that spread to other areas.