Before the Browser Wars

The events Before the Browser Wars began when the Internet became available to a public audience in the early 1990s when CERN employees launched the WorldWideWeb browser, (later renamed to Nexus). That action kick-started the creation of other web browsers, most of which didn't last long in the market. However, Mosaic (a browser launched in January 1993) gained enough market share to provide enough momentum for the Browser Wars, not by involving itself in it as a competitor, but by having a spin-off browser by the name of Netscape spawn off of Mosaic's success and dominate the market where Mosaic left off. As Mosaic left the market, Internet Explorer (IE) entered as a challenger to Netscape's crown, and thus the first browser war began.

1990
December 23: CERN creates Nexus (WorldWideWeb browser; the first recorded browser release)

1991
May 14: CERN launches Line Mode Browser (first browser designed to work with any operating system in its existence)

1992
March 9: ViolaWWW launched (first widely popular browser)

July 25: Joseph Wang launches tkWWW

November 16: Tony Johnson launched MidasWWW

Unknown date: Lynx was launched

1993
January 23: NCSA launches Mosaic (first popular graphic browser)

June 8: Cello is released.

December 25: AMosaic is released.

1994
May: Spyglass launches their own version of Mosaic.

November: SlipKnot is released.

December 15: Netscape Navigator is released

Unknown date: IBM WebExplorer is released

1995
TBA

August 16: The first version of Internet Explorer is launched by Microsoft.

Unknown date: UdiWWW is released

Unknown date: OmniWeb is launched