The Mosaic 1.0 web browser celebrated its 15th birthday yesterday.
Well, celebrate is a strong word. Given that Mosaic is now unknown and unloved, it probably spent its birthday listening to Barbara Streisand, watching its scratchy wedding video and drinking alone. But Mosaic deserves remembering.
Mosaic was the first graphical web browser - instead of opening images in a new window, it displayed them embedded inside text. And after release on April 21 1993 it quickly became the hugely popular forerunner to today's web browsers.
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Comments
Scott Graham said: Celebrating alone is a bit strong Some of us old timers who were around then really appreciate all the work that went into the Mosaic 10 browser or was it 05 Having surfed the web with a text-only browser gasp Mosaic was a breath of fresh air thanks from one who remebers the good old daysSG
Jackie Chan said: Sorry but Mosaic was not the first graphical browser It was the first full blown internet supported one Tom Campbell PhD developed an internet messaging system in 1991 that included a graphical browser It was thought at the time that it was an application that had no practical use and was only of academic interest He received a distinction for the MSc that his three month E-massaging system was a component of His PhD Essex University 1992-1997 took the internet communication systems into a realm that has still not yet been realised He developed the important notion of a digital user d-user that he said was the only way multiple work and play could be achieved on flat surfaces such as a screen His system was completely constricted to 2-D purposely It was called the SWDW system Shared Windowed Digital World