browsers

RIP Netscape

Netscape Navigator was my first Web browser, so I’m sad to see AOL kill it this February. Netscape was developed in 1994 by Marc Andreesen. Marc previously co-authored the world’s first popular Web browser, Mosaic.

Netscape Communications’ successful IPO in 1995 kicked off the dot-com boom. AOL bought Netscape for a whopping $4.2 billion in 1998. Too bad they were unable to withstand Microsoft’s monopolistic bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows.

Netscape Throbber

I’ll miss the Netscape throbber. A huge meteor impact was the perfect metaphor for the dinosaur-killing implications of the Web.

Damn Internet Explorer. Part of the reason Microsoft was able to tie apps to the desktop for so long was because they didn’t update Internet Explorer for so long. With apps now moving off the desktop and onto the Web, Netscape will be avenged — by its Google-backed descendant, Firefox.

January 2, 2008 · Post a Comment

Opera Mini 4 Beta Challenges iPhone Safari

The iPhone’s Safari browser is gorgeous — but not all of us are AT&T subscribers, and not all of us are willing to settle for EDGE. That’s why Opera Mini Beta 4, the latest version of a popular mobile browser which works on many other phones, replicates the panning and zooming of the iPhone’s browser. Best of all, it’s free.

June 19, 2007 · 2 Comments