THE BROWSERS LANDSCAPE
Browsers history
Not long after the release of the Mosaic web browser in 1993 it became the most common
web browser, keeping its position until the end of 1994. The factors contributing to
Mosaic’s popularity were inline graphics, which showed text and graphics on the same
page, and popularizing the point and click method of surfing. Moreover, it was the first
browser to be cross-platform including Windows and Macintosh ports. Amazingly, by the
end of 1995 its popularity plummeted to only 5% of the web browser market (Berghel,
1998). This collapse in Mosaic’s popularity was concurrent to the rapid rise of Netscape
Navigator which was released in December 1994 and managed in less than two years to
reach around 80% market share (different sources cite somewhat different numbers).
Several factors are believed to have caused the fast adoption of Netscape by users. First, it
was a natural followup of Mosaic as it was developed by the same people. Second, Netscape
introduced many technological innovations such as on-the-fly page rendering, JavaScript,
cookies, and Java applets (Berghel, 1998). Third, Netscape introduced new approaches to
testing and distribution of web browsers by releasing frequent beta versions to users in
order to test them and get feedback (Yoffie & Cusumano, 1998).
Browsers history
Not long after the release of the Mosaic web browser in 1993 it became the most common
web browser, keeping its position until the end of 1994. The factors contributing to
Mosaic’s popularity were inline graphics, which showed text and graphics on the same
page, and popularizing the point and click method of surfing. Moreover, it was the first
browser to be cross-platform including Windows and Macintosh ports. Amazingly, by the
end of 1995 its popularity plummeted to only 5% of the web browser market (Berghel,
1998). This collapse in Mosaic’s popularity was concurrent to the rapid rise of Netscape
Navigator which was released in December 1994 and managed in less than two years to
reach around 80% market share (different sources cite somewhat different numbers).
Several factors are believed to have caused the fast adoption of Netscape by users. First, it
was a natural followup of Mosaic as it was developed by the same people. Second, Netscape
introduced many technological innovations such as on-the-fly page rendering, JavaScript,
cookies, and Java applets (Berghel, 1998). Third, Netscape introduced new approaches to
testing and distribution of web browsers by releasing frequent beta versions to users in
order to test them and get feedback (Yoffie & Cusumano, 1998).
THE BROWSERS LANDSCAPE
Browsers history
Not long after the release of the Mosaic web browser in 1993 it became the most common
web browser, keeping its position until the end of 1994. The factors contributing to
Mosaic’s popularity were inline graphics, which showed text and graphics on the same
page, and popularizing the point and click method of surfing. Moreover, it was the first
browser to be cross-platform including Windows and Macintosh ports. Amazingly, by the
end of 1995 its popularity plummeted to only 5% of the web browser market (Berghel,
1998). This collapse in Mosaic’s popularity was concurrent to the rapid rise of Netscape
Navigator which was released in December 1994 and managed in less than two years to
reach around 80% market share (different sources cite somewhat different numbers).
Several factors are believed to have caused the fast adoption of Netscape by users. First, it
was a natural followup of Mosaic as it was developed by the same people. Second, Netscape
introduced many technological innovations such as on-the-fly page rendering, JavaScript,
cookies, and Java applets (Berghel, 1998). Third, Netscape introduced new approaches to
testing and distribution of web browsers by releasing frequent beta versions to users in
order to test them and get feedback (Yoffie & Cusumano, 1998).
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