By Carolyn Duffy Marsan
Network World
October 9, 2009

Web Browser Milestones

The Web browser turns 15 on Oct. 13, 2009 – a key milestone in the history of the Internet. That’s when the first commercial Web browser – eventually called Netscape Navigator – was released as beta code. While researchers including World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee and a team at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications created Unix browsers between 1991 and 1994, Netscape Navigator made this small piece of desktop software a household name. By allowing average users to view text and images posted on Web sites, Netscape Navigator helped launch the Internet era along with multiple browser wars, government-led lawsuits and many software innovations. Here are 15 highlights in the history of the Web browser.

September 2, 2008

Google Chrome introduces
Google announced the beta release of its open source Chrome browser for Microsoft Windows systems. Google offered a developer’s version that supports Linux and Apple Macintosh systems in June 2009. Now, Google is on Version 3 of Chrome, which aims at being speedier than competitors with a cleaner layout and design. So far, Google has attracted more press than users with Chrome. Currently, Chrome has 3.7% browser market share, according to Janco Associates.

March 19, 2009

Microsoft responds to rivals, enhances IE
Responding to innovations in Firefox, Safari, Opera and Chrome, Microsoft released Version 8 of Internet Explorer. Microsoft said it was the company’s fastest, most stable and secure Web browser. One innovation is Web slices, which notify users when a favorite site is updated. Another improvement makes it easier for users to refer to multiple tabs. IE also offers InPrivate browsing, which has the nickname “porn mode.” Microsoft was prompted to improve its Web browser by shrinking market share, which is down to 68%, according to Janco Associates.

June 30, 2009

Mozilla ships faster Firefox
Mozilla released the latest version of Firefox, which offers several performance enhancements, particularly for Web developers. Though not the fastest browser, Firefox 3.5 is more competitive against Chrome and Safari in this area. Firefox 3.5 features location-aware browsing so it’s easier for users to find nearby retailers or restaurants. This version also supports private browsing, which was already available in Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer. Mozilla says more than 300 million people around the world use Firefox.

August 13, 2009

Netscape founder discloses browser start-up
Marc Andreessen, leader of the NCSA Mosaic project and founder of Netscape, admits to the New York Times that he is backing a browser start-up called RockMelt . The article caused much speculation in the tech press about what RockMelt will be, with many believing that the new venture will create a browser customized for social networking sites such as Facebook.

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