The Web browser is arguably by the most important part of the entire Internet experience, and without one, the Web experience would likely be very boring and gray.
Browsers, which allow users to retrieve information from the Web, have come a long way since the first one was released in 1991. Browsers went mainstream a few years later with Mosaic in 1993, which was followed by Netscape Navigator in 1994, and Microsoft Internet Explorer in 1995, a browser that Microsoft gave away for free, touching off the infamous Web browser wars of the 1990s.
Modern browsers are headlined by four main competitors: Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, the open source Mozilla Firefox, a browser that essentially replaced Netscape and has so far done the best job of eating into Microsoft’s market share monopoly, Apple’s Safari, and the newest entrant, Google’s open source Chrome browser.
List of Popular Web Browsers Icons
Web browsers mediate the connection between our computers and those that serve the Web pages and Web applications we use and enjoy every day. Without these important software innovations, the World Wide Web would be a very different experience.
