Internet Browser and E-mail
I highly advise that you use Firefox for your browser and Thunderbird for your e-mail application (or for e-mail, you may use web mail without using an e-mail application program installed on your computer as described here). You may download both Firefox and Thunderbird here. I advise that you don't install any extras or toolbars in the process of installing them. Be sure to choose the downloads for Windows.
I also recommend that you be very careful about installing extensions, add-ons, or plug-ins to either Firefox or Thunderbird that are not recommended in this article. Fully investigate them first. Some add-ons may actually be spyware or have a spyware component, or they may cause Firefox or Thunderbird to become unstable, or cause some other kind of problem with other programs that you run on your computer, or cause a security venerability that could be exploited.
I also suggest that you refrain from using Internet Explorer except for Windows updates.
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