The history of Firefox.

[VenomXt]

http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/ben/archives/009698.html

Pretty intresting. figured someone here would like it.

 

[Aprox]

Back in my day we called it firebird... and it was quick as a fox....

 

[gonaads]

Back in my day it was called Mosaic, the Mother of us all.

I have been using it (Mosaic, Netscape, Mozilla, Firebird/fox) since day one.

 

[Aprox]

I think I started using it at like version .55 or something like that... long ass time ago thats for sure.

Thats a great read, really shows the struggle that they have gone though to bring it to the masses... and that its free makes all that much more amazing.

 

[Perris Calderon]

and that its free makes all that much more amazing.

it's a great browser it's true, but it's free becuase of bill gates

 

[j79zlr]

it's a great browser it's true, but it's free becuase of bill gates

Huh?

 

[Perris Calderon]

specialty browsers used to be programs we paid for at least at the server level untill they had to compete with the price of internet explorer

Netscape's business model was to give away unlimited trial versions of the browser but sell their server software.

Microsoft bundled everything free including the server versions of explorer and the development went forward off of that

 

[NetRyder]

Back in my day we called it firebird... and it was quick as a fox....

It was called Phoenix when I first started using it at v0.1
That was back when Extensions didn't exist, and even the search box wasn't part of the browser chrome.

 

[Aprox]

Oh wow... I totally forgot about Phoenix... I didnt use it then but my brother did. Heh, did you have that screen shot laying around or still have the program?

 

[NetRyder]

Oh wow... I totally forgot about Phoenix... I didnt use it then but my brother did. Heh, did you have that screen shot laying around or still have the program?

Nah, I just Googled for the screenshot. Of course, if you want to try it, evolt has every version since 0.1 here:
http://browsers.evolt.org/?mozilla/phoenix

 

[Grandmaster]

It was called Phoenix when I first started using it at v0.1
That was back when Extensions didn't exist, and even the search box wasn't part of the browser chrome.

Ewwww.

Personally, I came quite late to the game. I think it was just before Firebird became Firefox.

 

[tdinc]

ahh the good ol' days...nice post net

 

[SPeedY_B]

Mozilla -> Phoenix -> Firebird -> Firefox, used 'em all


p.s. It's not free because of Bill Gates.

 

[Son Goku]

Huh?

Yeah, Netscape used to charge... Microsoft was the first to make the browser a free download, and latter to integrate it into their OS. With an integrated browser, how many were going to pay for a browser anymore? So, Netscape ended up having to match Microsoft, by making it free, which gave Microsoft the advantage. Reason is, Microsoft didn't have to sell the browser, as they were selling the OS that it was integrated in, so making money off the OS itself. Netscape didn't have an answer to respond by, from which they could remain profitable.

Combine this with some issues in Netscape (actually Netscape 4 wasn't problematic on my PC, though the Netscape 4 we had installed on the AIX boxes at school, would routinely crash when launched in an X-Term), and Netscape was soon gone. I find it funny though, that Netscape is trying to re-emerge as a dialup ISP now, with some adds I've seen on TV. No dialup Internet with "web accelerator", really some form of compression, for the bits sent over the network pipeline; is of any interest to me. I now have broadband, and would be loathe to go back to dialup of anykind.

hehe, for the back in my day comments... Back in my day, the web didn't even exist I remember when I first got on the Internet in college many years back. Everything was pretty much text mode only, as people joined discussion groups, mailing lists, and other such entities, which neither used a browser, nor presented a GUI of anykind. Didn't have a modem, and hence Internet at home, until about CompuServe 2.5 though... Pretty much got online from uni only, prior to then...

I also remember when I first got on the web, and then when Netscape 2.0 was considered a big thing