Proxies and VPNs - Software to Change IP address

Any research into types of software to change IP address will lead you directly to proxies and VPNs.  The details of each of these can get pretty complicated, but in a nutshell, both are just ways of rerouting your traffic through a computer server somewhere outside of your current network.  There are millions of forums that analyze the technical details of these two products, but I think for users who are just getting started, its important to know what they can do, and not how they work.So proxies will only make your browsing activity anonymous.  There are "open proxies" which are IP addresses and port numbers you can enter into your browser (Firefox, Chrome, Opera, IE) to reroute your traffic through a proxy server located someone else in the world.  This means you don't access websites directly - a proxy server does the work for you - providing you with stored data  or making requests for you.  Its' a great way to bypass firewalls at work, school, and public networks.There is also "software" that's available out there.  What this kind of software usually does, though it will vary from product to product, is to  help you organize these open proxies, and perhaps even give you a browser to use them in.  Because these products are a "one time fee", they cannot provide you with private servers - only a way to find and organize the millions of open proxy servers that are located around the world.There are proxy services out there - services that actually own their own servers, maintain them, and provide support.  This kind of service however is going to charge a monthly fee for maintenance and support.  It'll probably cost you about 5 dollars a month.  In many cases these services will be in  the form of a web based proxy, and will not require the installation of any software - they will choose one of their servers at random for you.There are also virtual private networks.  These work differently than proxies, but are also a kind of software to change IP address.  Once connected to the private network, you data is encrypted and filtered through the network.  You then run your entire machine (phone/computer) through that network, which means that other programs and apps you run will also use the anonymous IP address.  This is a better solution for users who are serious about total anonymity online.