Keep your software up to date

If the software you own has an "automatic update" feature, make sure that's turned on. 

You will find that having the latest version of as many browsers as you can manage, as well as the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader, Flash Player, and so forth, will make your job as a web designer much easier. All these programs are free, so there's no economic argument against having them.

Although it is (of course!) possible to test browser compatibility right inside Dreamweaver, SEEING what your work looks like in different browsers is priceless. It can be very disheartening for a client or associate to tell you that your site breaks on their browser.

I run Chrome (a Google browser) most of the time, and also use FireFox, Internet Explorer, Safari (also available for Windows!), and Opera. If you know which browser your clients use, you NEED to test in that browser.

Often, programs like Adobe Acrobat Reader develop innovative ways of working...the latest version of Acrobat Reader uses a 'portfolio' concept, where many .pdf files are cataloged under a group name. That is the technique they have used on the Adobe Certification files. When you download one of the Adobe files from the class page on my website, you may get the message that you need to upgrade. Don't mess around: do it NOW! You'll be glad you did.

If you are creating sites that will have a general audience, you will discover that W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) keeps track of browser usage....that is, they can tell you the trend in who is using what browser. For instance, what percentage of IE6 users have moved to IE7. Of course, they are not actually tracking individual users, but the trends are good to notice. You will want to make SURE your sites and pages work in Internet Explorer and Firefox, at the very least.

For my personal use, I like the Chrome browser, as it is very fast and has some nice features. Because it is a Google product, it IS a search engine, and does not need a secondary search toolbar. Plus (if you are old enough to remember...) the Chrome logo looks like Simon.