Chrome Celebrates 15 Years

byMrDon1

561 followers

Updated 1 month ago

Chrome is marking its 15th anniversary. As Old School as I am (forgetful?!?) if Chrome has been around 15 years, what did we use prior to Chrome? The internet has been around since the early 1990s. We obviously had something before Chrome. So I went looking.

Here is a bit of history for you.

Tim Berners-Lee

Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web while at CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory, in 1989. He wrote the first web client and server in 1990. His specifications of URIs, HTTP, and HTML were refined as Web technology spread.

The internet is 34 years young! It has been around longer than many people have been alive. Yes, I can say I saw the birth of the internet and within the military, was one of the first beneficiaries of the technology. I was able to go from creating keypunch cards to online input.

Do You Remember Netscape?

The very first browser that we had was Mosaic is was a creation of Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina who went on to found a company. That company was called Netscape and Mosaic would later be rebranded as the Netscape Navigator. Navigator was the browser of choice. By 1995, 90% of the World Wide Web was using this browser. But then something happened.

In 1995, we had the release of Microsoft Windows 95. Microsoft bundled their version of a browser called Internet Explorer with Microsoft Plus in Windows 95. Microsoft got greedy. When you installed Windows 95, it AUTOMATICALLY UNINSTALLED Navigator and installed Internet Explorer! Their rationale was that the operating system was hard coded into the software to prevent security concerns.

Netscape is Sold

This was a lawsuit that would take 3 years for the courts to decide in favor of Netscape. And the courts gave Microsoft another three years to remedy the situation. Unfortunately, the damage had been done, Netscape went broke and sold out to a new start-up called America Online (AOL).

To connect to the internet, you needed a "connection service" like AOL, CompuServe, Prodigy, or NetZero. You had to install their software, pay a subscription fee, and use a dial-up modem to connect to the internet. AOL and the Netscape Navigator stole the show from Microsoft. Internet Explorer was no longer "mandatory" and you could install AOL & Navigator. Which a lot of people did. Do you still have an AOL email address?

Microsoft made a late attempt to get back into the internet arena with their Microsoft Network Service (MSN). Microsoft planned to outdo AOL with MSN. AOL had email, and MSN created "Hotmail" and the war was on until it wasn't!

Is That A Phone Line?

The war raged for several years, and the smaller services faded away. EarthLink, Prodigy, and the others could not keep up with these two titans of industry. But in the background was a monopoly that had been broken up. AT&T and all of the "Baby Bells" woke up to the fact that these "Internet Services" were using their phone lines to get connected. What if they could find a way to take advantage of this fact?

At first, they were happy making money from the fact that you needed a phone line for the dial-up connection. If you wanted to make a call when someone was online, you had to have a second house line. Their revenue was being doubled by your using technology. It is a win-win for AOL, MSN, and AT&T. The phone services were getting greedier. Technology was advancing.

DSL Technology: Phone companies introduced Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology in the late 1990s and early 2000s. DSL used existing phone lines to provide high-speed internet access, allowing users to connect directly to the internet without a separate service like AOL.

AOL & MSN became obsolete overnight.

Your phone company was now "bundling" DSL & Phone services into one package. They are collecting the "connection fee", the second line fee, and your standard service fee.

You Have a Choice

Your phone company could care less about the browser that you use. Microsoft after getting slapped by the courts, instead of making it "Mandatory" gave you the inherent "Option" of installing Internet Explorer. It was optional, but if you were installing Microsoft, you automatically checked the box yourself.

From the beginning of the internet, there has always been a group that believes the internet should be "free". This is the Open Source" group. This group is firmly entrenched as Anti-Microsoft. Anything that Microsoft can do, Open Source can do better. Are you familiar with LibreOffice? It is an excellent alternative to MS Office, or running through Google Apps when it comes to needing an office program. Through the Open Source Group, you have their competitive balance browser, Firefox. How many people are averse to using the "intrusive" browser and want options?

New Options Every Day

It was about this time that another startup was making an entrance to the internet. Apple. The Apple operating system needed its own browser and Safari was created. Because it is a totally separate operating system, it had to create its own web browser. The WebKit was created and the Safari browser was born in 2003.

The entrants in the Web Browser Wars are in place. The establishment entrant, Internet Explorer, The Anti-Establishment entrant, Firefox, and the Apple operating system entrant Safari. These three would play "Keeping Up with the Joneses ", each attempting to outdo the other with options and improvements.

In 2005 there was another startup being launched. Google. Ever heard of them? Their ability to catalog and index every webpage on the internet was phenomenal. It did not matter which browser you were using, when you wanted to know something Google.com was your destination. Taking advantage of the situation, Google built Chrome. The Anti-Establishment, and tired of Internet Explorer were quick to pick up this new alternative.

Fast forward to today and here's a breakdown of the global browser wars as of August 2024:

1. Chrome: 65.18%
2. Safari: 18.55%
3. Edge: 5.26%
4. Firefox: 2.74%
5. Samsung Internet: 2.56%
6. Opera: 2.15%

From the early days of Mosaic and Netscape Navigator to today's dominance of Google Chrome, the evolution of web browsers has been fascinating to watch. I saw the rise and fall of Internet Services, the rise and fall of Internet Explorer and the resurgence with Edge and Copilot, the persistent presence of Firefox as an open-source alternative, and the steady growth of Safari within Apple's ecosystem.

While Chrome is currently in a commanding lead for usage, the rapid pace of technological change means that its dominance is never guaranteed.

Let's celebrate Chrome's 15th Birthday by remembering how we got here. With the fast-paced world of internet technology, 15 years is both a long time and just the beginning.

What was your beginning? Was it the Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari? In the current reign of Chrome, we all have a unique story about our browsing experiences.

What was your first web browser? What do you currently use? Have you tried the "others" and will Chrome make it another 15 years?