2024-11-04 16:36:34 +00:00
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---
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tags: [world-wide-web, computer-history, Microsoft]
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created: Sunday, November 03, 2024
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---
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2024-11-05 15:14:05 +00:00
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# c301a0b3_Mosaic_Netscape_and_Browser_Wars
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2024-11-04 16:36:34 +00:00
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The Mosaic browser was conceived and produced at the University of Illinois
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during the very early growth of the Web, when TBL was still at CERN.
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_Mosaic_:
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It became the best of the early browsers (a group that included ViolaWWW and
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Erwise) with the notable advantage of being able to embed graphics alongside
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text (instead of inside a separate window). It also supported multiple
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[application layer](Application_Layer_of_Internet_Protocol.md) protocols - FTP,
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the Network News Transfer Protocol, Gopher - not just HTTP.
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At this point there were nascent browsers for different operating systems and
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which browser you used was mostly determined by your OS. Being the product of a
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US university, Mosaic was originally written for Unix's X-Window system but was
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ported to multiple OSs later, a key factor in its success and uptake.
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Mosaic's creators formed their own company outside of the university: Netscape.
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The browser they created, Netscape Navigator became the heir to Mosaic, released
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in 1994.
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_Netscape Navigator_:
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It was made free of charge for non-commercial use which assured rapid uptake.
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This was done to outrun Microsoft's Internet Explorer (released two months after
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Netscape went public) which they intended to bundle with all new versions of
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Windows 95. Netscape became the de facto standard browser during the early Web,
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including on Windows. It took a few years for IE to overtake it.
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_Internet Explorer 1 with licensing info_:
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Netscape also birthed JavaScript, which was written rapidly specifically for the
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browser. Prior to this, dynamic client-side functionality was provided by Java
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'applets' which never really took off.
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IE in fact shares a genealogy with Mosaic since Microsoft licensed a version of
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the Mosaic code and used it to construct IE.
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By the end of the 1990s, Netscape's usage had declined precipitously as IE
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captured the market share.
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