Browser Wars

Thirty years ago, Mosaic was hailed as the new face of the internet, marking the beginning of World Wide Web dominance and the decline of online service providers like CompuServe and Prodigy.

In 1992, Lynx was introduced as a text-based browser, primarily used for locating, reading, and downloading text-based articles. It continues to be used today for these purposes.

In 1993, Mosaic was introduced as an early version of Netscape Navigator, becoming the first web browser with a graphical user interface. This innovation made the web more accessible to the masses.

Netscape Navigator was released in December 1994, quickly becoming the most popular browser at the time. It marked the beginning of the 'Browser Wars' between Netscape and Microsoft.

Bill Gates wrote a memo titled 'The Internet Tidal Wave' where he emphasized the importance of the internet and its potential impact on Microsoft's business.

By the end of the day of its IPO, Netscape shares surged to over $70 per share, leading to a market value close to $2 billion. This marked a significant milestone in the history of Wall Street as Netscape's IPO became the largest at that time.

On December 7, 1995, Bill Gates held a press conference to launch Internet Explorer version 2, aiming to dominate the web browser market rather than just enter it. This event marked a significant move by Microsoft in the Browser Wars against Netscape.

In 1996, Netscape Navigator was the dominant web browser in the market, solidifying its position as the leading browser during the early stages of the browser wars.

On October 1, 1997, Microsoft employees celebrated the release of Internet Explorer 4 by placing a giant IE logo in Netscape's corporate office fountain. This event symbolized Microsoft's aggressive push to dominate the browser market.

On October 7, 1997, Microsoft launched Internet Explorer 4.0, marking a significant shift in the browser wars. This version aimed to challenge Netscape's dominance in the web browsing market.

John Markoff discussed the intensifying competition between Microsoft and Netscape in the browser wars.

Joel Brinkley reported on Microsoft disputing Netscape's account of a meeting, highlighting the tensions between the two companies during the browser wars.

Dave Kramer provided a brief history of Microsoft's presence on the web, reflecting on the company's role in the browser wars.

Internet Explorer 6.0 reached a peak usage share of ninety-six percent, marking the end of the first browser war. Netscape Navigator, the main competitor, never recovered from the dominance of Internet Explorer.

Netscape open sourced its codebase to create Mozilla, which later released Firefox in 2002 as an alternative to Internet Explorer.

John Borland discussed the consequences faced by a software empire, possibly referring to the aftermath of the browser wars.

Version 1.0 of the Firefox browser was released in November 2004, after undergoing name changes from 'Phoenix' to 'Firebird' to 'Firefox'.

Microsoft unveiled Internet Explorer 7, positioning it as a significant upgrade over IE 6 SP1, with features like tabbed browsing, search bar, and enhanced web standards support.

On June 20, 2006, Opera Software released Opera 9, the first Windows browser to pass the Acid2 test, including an integrated source viewer, a BitTorrent client implementation, and widgets.

Microsoft launched Internet Explorer 7 with tabbed browsing, a search bar, phishing filter, and improved web standards support, catching up with features already present in Opera and Firefox.

Mozilla released Mozilla Firefox 2.0 on October 24, 2006, with features like reopening recently closed tabs, session restore after a crash, a phishing filter, and a spell-checker.

Microsoft announced that an internal build of Internet Explorer 8 had passed the Acid2 CSS test in 'IE8 standards mode,' making it the last major browser to do so.

Netscape announced the discontinuation of support for its Mozilla-derived Netscape Navigator on February 1, 2008, advising users to switch to Mozilla Firefox.

Netscape extended support for Netscape Navigator to March 1, 2008, and recommended Flock and Firefox as alternative browsers for its users.

AOL ceased its support for Netscape Navigator on February 1, 2008, leading to the gradual demise of the once popular web browser. This decision effectively marked the end of an era for Netscape Navigator.

Mozilla released Firefox 3.0 on June 17, 2008, with performance improvements and new features.

Google released the Chrome browser on September 1, 2008, using the WebKit rendering engine and a faster JavaScript engine called V8.

Internet Explorer 8 was released with new features like accelerators, enhanced privacy protection, compatibility mode for older pages, and improved web standards support.

On January 21, 2010, Mozilla launched Firefox 3.6, introducing 'Personas' for theme customization and enhancing browser performance.

Google unveiled Chrome 9 on February 3, 2011, featuring WebGL support, Chrome Instant, and the Chrome Web Store.

Microsoft released Internet Explorer 9 on March 14, 2011, featuring a revamped interface, support for basic SVG features, partial HTML5 video support, and dropping support for Windows XP.

Mozilla adopted rapid releases with Firefox 5.0 on June 21, 2011, setting a trend for quicker browser updates.

Google concluded 2011 with Chrome 16 on December 15, after launching multiple versions throughout the year.

Mozilla offered Firefox 10 as an Extended Support Release on January 31, 2012, providing long-term security updates and features.

Google introduced Chrome 17 on February 15, 2012, further expanding its browser features.

Users of Firefox's rapid release cycle were automatically updated to Firefox 11 on March 15, 2012, ensuring they had the latest features and security patches.

As of July 2013, Google Chrome emerged as the winner in the Browser Wars with a dominant market share. Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari were trailing behind in terms of usage.

Starting in 2015 with the release of Windows 10, Microsoft shifted from Internet Explorer to Microsoft Edge.

On May 25, 2017, Andreas Gal, former Mozilla CTO, publicly announced that Google Chrome emerged victorious in the Second Browser War, as usage shares of Opera, Firefox, and Internet Explorer fell below 5% each.

As of July 2019, Google Chrome holds over seventy-one percent of the usage share, solidifying its dominance in the web browser market.

In June 2022, Microsoft permanently phased out Internet Explorer in favor of Microsoft Edge as their primary browser, reflecting the evolving landscape of web browsers.