NCSA Mosaic

This article is about the browser produced by NCSA. For the browser that was later renamed, see Netscape Navigator.
NCSA Mosaic
Original author(s)
Developer(s)NCSA
Initial release0.5 / January 23, 1993; 31 years ago (1993-01-23)[1]
Final release
3.0 Edit this on Wikidata / 7 January 1997; 27 years ago (7 January 1997)
Written inC[2]
Platform
Available inEnglish
TypeWeb browser
LicenseProprietary
Websitewww.ncsa.illinois.edu/enabling/mosaic
Internet history timeline

Early research and development:

Merging the networks and creating the Internet:

Commercialization, privatization, broader access leads to the modern Internet:

Examples of Internet services:

NCSA Mosaic was among the first widely available web browsers, instrumental in popularizing the World Wide Web and the general Internet by integrating multimedia such as text and graphics.[3][4][5] Mosaic was the first browser to display images inline with text (instead of a separate window).[6]

Named for supporting multiple Internet protocols, including Hypertext Transfer Protocol, File Transfer Protocol, Network News Transfer Protocol, and Gopher,[7] its intuitive interface, reliability, personal computer support, and simple installation all contributed to Mosaic's initial popularity.[8] Mistakenly described as the first graphical web browser, it was preceded by WorldWideWeb, the lesser-known Erwise,[9] and ViolaWWW.

Mosaic was developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA)[6] at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign beginning in late 1992, released in January 1993,[10] with official development and support until January 1997.[11] Mosaic lost market share to Netscape Navigator in late 1994, [12] and had only a tiny fraction of users left by 1997, when the project was discontinued. Microsoft licensed one of the derivative commercial products, Spyglass Mosaic, to create Internet Explorer in 1995.

  1. ^ Stewart, William. "Mosaic – The First Global Web Browser". Archived from the original on 2 July 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  2. ^ "xmosaic 1.2 source code". NCSA. 1994-06-29. Archived from the original on 2016-06-19. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  3. ^ Gregersen, Erik. "Browser Computer Program". Britannica.com. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  4. ^ "NCSA Mosaic". NCSA. National Center for Supercomputing Applications. Archived from the original on 18 August 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  5. ^ "The Second International WWW Conference '94: Mosaic and the Web". Internet Archive. 19 October 1994. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  6. ^ a b Berners-Lee, Tim. "What were the first WWW browsers?". World Wide Web Consortium. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  7. ^ Douglas Crockford (Sep 10, 2011). Crockford on JavaScript – Volume 1: The Early Years. YouTube. Event occurs at 1:35:50. Archived from the original on 2021-11-18.
  8. ^ Andreessen, Marc. "Mosaic – The First Global Web Browser". Archived from the original on 2007-07-02. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
  9. ^ Holwerda, Thom (3 Mar 2009). "The World's First Graphical Browser: Erwise". OSNews. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  10. ^ Vetter, Ronald J. (October 1994). "Mosaic and the World-Wide Web" (PDF). North Dakota State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 August 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  11. ^ "Exhibits – Internet History – 1990's". Computer History Museum. 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
  12. ^ Behlendorf, Brian (13 Oct 1994). "Re: Netscape v NCSA". The World Wide Web History Project. Retrieved 30 August 2023.