Most Popular Web Browsers 1993 - 2020

In this data visualization I go back to the first graphical web browser, Mosaic. Before Mosaic most users browsed the web either with a text based web browser such as Lynx or using Nexus which had a graphical interface, which was easier to use. 1993 Mosaic First graphical web browser 1994 Netscape Navigator Launched at $49 with a 90 day trial 1995 Internet Explorer Launched as free add-on to Windows 95 1996 Opera Launched to the public as trialware 1997 Netscape held 70% of the market but IE being free was gaining fast 1998 This forced Netscape to became freeware 1998 Microsoft was taken to court for violating antitrust laws America Online acquired Netscape for $4.2 billion 2000 Microsoft was found guilty and decided to split IE from Windows 2001 IE was the official winner of the first browser war 2002 Firefox Beta Originally called Phoenix, then Firebird 2003 Safari 1.0 released by Apple 2004 Firefox 1.0 finally released to the public 2005 Free Opera Opera browser becomes freeware 2006 IE 7.