Student Help Desk
971-722-8222 | Outside the Portland Area: 1-866-922-1010 ext. 8222 | shd@pcc.edu
Web Browsers
A web browser is a program that lets you view and navigate web pages. A significant aspect of web browsers is that different web browsers will work best in different situations and with different websites and online systems. While it may be preferable to use a single web browser for most purposes, the Student Help Desk recommends having more than one web browser available on your computer.
Common Browsers
Mozilla Firefox
Firefox is a popular web browser and is typically the most recommended by the Student Help Desk. Firefox is the best supproted browser for Desire2Learn since it has the fewest known issues. It also works well with MyPCC and Google Apps.
Mozilla Firefox can be downloaded for free from firefox.com.
Google Chrome
Chrome is also a popular web browser that has seen more usage recently. Unfortunately, Chrome does have some known issues with Desire2Learn, including an inconsisitent issue with saving answers and submitting attempts in the Quizzes tool. However, Chrome is optimized for use with Google Apps since they are created by the same company and thus Chrome will often have features that other browsers will not have. Chrome will also work well with MyPCC.
Google Chrome can be downloaded for free from chrome.com.
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer will often be the first web browser that a Windows user will have access to since it comes with almost every Windows operating system. While it is functional as a web browser, Internet Explorer is rarely the preferred browser for use with MyPCC, Desire2Learn, or other PCC systems and websites.
Apple Safari
Safari is a common web browser for Mac OS X users.