At the same time, other new features may be less feted in the Internet press, but can be far more useful for everyday roaming on the Web. While some may have the time to read every sentence of the new documentation and explore the changes under each menu and new icon, most of us don't seek out these hidden gems. To help, this column summarizes some of the most useful keyboard and navigation shortcuts available with the latest Web browsers. While Netscape's Communicator and Navigator version 4, running on Windows 95, is the focus of this article, many of these tricks and shortcuts described also work on Internet Explorer. Most work just the same under Windows 3.1.
People choose their own favorite way of moving around within software.
Graphic icon buttons, word icon buttons, drop-down menus, and keyboard shortcuts often all provide a way to accomplish the same function. On the Web with a graphical browser, most of us are familiar with moving around entirely with the mouse. The keyboard shortcuts described here may not appeal to everyone, but knowing what is available at least gives us an option for alternate ways to navigate, and offers a choice for the most effective shortcuts. Try them all, then memorize the ones that fit best into your particular style of Web use. The mouse is a primitive, but rather useful pointing device.