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Comparison of web browsers
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The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of web browsers. Please see the individual products' articles for further information.
Web browser history
Web browsers by year
This is a table of personal computer web browsers by year of release of major version, in chronological order, with the approximate number of worldwide Internet users in millions. Note that Internet user data is related to the entire market, not the versions released in that year. The increased growth of the Internet in the 1990s and 2000s means that current browsers with small market shares have more total users than the entire market early on. For example, 90% market share in 1997 would be roughly 60 million users, but by the start of 2007 9% market share would equate to over 90 million users.[2]
| Year |
Web Browsers |
Internet
Users (in millions)[3] |
|
Pre-browser: HyperCard, Gopher |
|
| 1991 |
WorldWideWeb (Nexus) |
|
| 1992 |
ViolaWWW, Erwise, MidasWWW, MacWWW |
|
| 1993 |
Mosaic, Cello, Lynx 2.0, Arena, AMosaic 1.0 |
|
| 1994 |
IBM Web Explorer, Netscape Navigator, SlipKnot 1.0, MacWeb, IBrowse, Argo, Minuet |
| 1995 |
Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator 2.0, OmniWeb, WebRouser[4], Internet Explorer 2, Grail |
16 |
| 1996 |
Arachne 1.0, Internet Explorer 3.0, Netscape Navigator 3.0, Opera 2.0,
PowerBrowser 1.5[5], Cyberdog, Amaya 0.9, AWeb, Voyager |
36 |
| 1997 |
Internet Explorer 4.0, Netscape Navigator 4.0, Netscape Communicator 4.0, Opera 3.0 |
70 |
| 1998 |
Internet Explorer 5.0 Beta 1, iCab, Mozilla |
147 |
| 1999 |
Amaya 2.0, Mozilla M3, Internet Explorer 5.0 |
248 |
| 2000 |
Konqueror, Netscape 6, Opera 4, K-Meleon 0.2 |
361 |
| 2001 |
Internet Explorer 6, Galeon 1.0 |
513 |
| 2002 |
Netscape 7, Mozilla 1.0, Phoenix 0.1, Links 2.0 |
587 |
| 2003 |
Opera 7, Safari 1.0, Epiphany 1.0 |
719 |
| 2004 |
Firefox 1.0, Netscape Browser, OmniWeb 5.0 |
817 |
| 2005 |
Safari 2.0, Netscape Browser 8.0, Opera 8, Epiphany1.8, Amaya 9.0, AOL Explorer1.0, Maxthon 1.0, Shiira 1.0 |
1018 |
| 2006 |
SeaMonkey 1.0, K-Meleon 1.0, Galeon 2.0, Camino 1.0, Firefox 2.0, Avant 11, iCab 3, Opera 9, Internet Explorer 7, Sputnik |
1093 |
| 2007 |
Maxthon 2.0, Netscape Navigator 9, NetSurf 1.0, Flock 1.0, Safari 3.0, Conkeror |
1262 |
| 2008 |
Konqueror 4, Safari 3.1, Opera 9.5, Firefox 3, K-Meleon 1.5, Amaya 10 |
1400 (est.) |
| Beta |
Internet Explorer 8, Flock 2.0, Safari 4.0, Google Chrome |
- See also: microbrowser
Historical web browsers
This table focuses on OS and browsers of the 1990s and turn of the century. The year listed for a version is usually the year of the first official release, with an end year being end of development, project change, or relevant termination. Releases of OS and browser from the early 1990s to before 2001-2002 time frame are the current focus.
Many early browsers can be made to run on later OS (and later browsers on early OS in some cases), however, most of these situations are avoided in the table. Terms are defined below
| Browser |
Years |
MS 2000/XP |
98/Me |
NT |
95 |
3.1 |
IBM OS/2 |
Mac OS X
(Intel/PPC) |
Mac OS 9 |
Mac OS 8 |
System 7
(PPC/68k) |
Linux |
BSD |
Unix
(HP-UX,
Solaris) |
Other |
| Years (OS) |
- |
2000/2001 |
1998 |
1993 |
1995 |
1992 |
1988 |
2001 |
1999 |
1997 |
1991 |
'94(1.0)/'91 |
1993 |
(1990s) |
- |
| AWeb |
1996-Now |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
AmigaOS
MorphOS |
| Cello |
1993-1994 |
NA |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Yes |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
No |
| IBM Web Explorer |
1994 |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Unknown |
Terminated (1.1h) |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| ICab |
1998-Now |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes (4.25) |
Yes (3.03) |
Yes (2.9.9) |
Yes (2.9.9) |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Internet Explorer 6
(Trident) |
2001- 2004 |
Terminated (6.0 SP2) Included |
Dropped (6.0 SP1) |
Dropped (6.0 SP1) |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Dropped |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
IE 5.0
IE 4.0 |
1998-2000
1997-1998 |
Included |
Included |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Dropped * (5.01 SP1) |
Unknown |
Dropped * (5.01 SP1) |
No |
| IE 3.0 |
1996-1997 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Included |
Yes |
Unknown |
No |
Yes |
Included |
Yes |
Yes * |
Unknown |
Yes * |
No |
IE 2.0
IE 1.0 |
1995 |
Yes |
Yes |
Included (2.0) |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Beta (2.0) |
No |
No |
No |
No |
IE Mac
(IE4, Trident)
(IE5, Tasman) |
1996-2003 |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Terminated (5.2.3) |
Dropped (5.1.7) |
Dropped (5.1.7) |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| MacWeb |
1994-1996 |
Yescitation needed |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Unknown |
Terminated (2.0) |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Mosaic |
1993-1997 |
Terminated (3.0) |
Unknown |
Terminated |
Terminated |
Terminated |
Terminated |
No |
Terminated (3.0) |
Terminated |
Terminated |
Dropped (2.6) |
Dropped (2.6) |
Dropped (2.6) |
OpenVMS |
Mozilla
(restarted SeaMonkey) |
2002-2006 |
Terminated (1.7.13) |
Terminated (1.7.13) |
Terminated (1.7.13) |
Terminated (1.7.13) |
Dropped |
Terminated (1.7.13) |
Terminated (1.7.13) |
Dropped (1.2.1) |
Dropped (1.0.1) |
No |
Terminated (1.7.13) |
Terminated (1.7.13) |
Terminated (1.7.13) |
OpenVMS |
| Netscape Navigator 9 |
2008 |
Terminated |
Terminated |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Terminated
(Mac OS X v10.2) |
No |
No |
No |
Terminated
(kernel 2.2.14) |
No |
No |
No |
| Netscape Browser |
2004-2007 |
Terminated |
Terminated |
Terminated |
Terminated |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Netscape 7
Netscape 6 |
2000-2004 |
Terminated (7.2) |
Terminated (7.2) |
Terminated (7.2) |
Terminated (7.2) |
No |
No |
Terminated (7.2) |
Dropped (7.02) |
Dropped (7.02) |
Unknown |
Terminated (7.2) |
Terminated (7.2) |
Terminated (7.2) |
No |
| Netscape Communicator |
1997-2002 |
Terminated (4.8) |
Terminated (4.8) |
Terminated (4.8) |
Terminated |
Terminated (4.08) |
Terminated |
No |
Terminated (4.80) |
Terminated (4.80) |
Terminated (4.08) |
Terminated (4.77) |
Terminated |
Terminated (4.77) |
No |
| Netscape Navigator |
1994-1998 |
Terminated (4.08) |
Terminated (4.08) |
Terminated |
Terminated |
Terminated (4.08) |
Terminated |
No |
Terminated (4.08) |
Dropped |
Dropped 3.0.4 |
Terminated (4.08) |
Terminated (4.08) |
Terminated (4.08) |
OpenVMS |
| OmniWeb |
1995-Now |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Dropped (4.0) |
Dropped |
Dropped |
No |
No |
No |
NEXTSTEP |
| Opera |
1996-Now |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Dropped (3.62) |
Dropped (5.12) |
Yes |
Dropped (7.54u2) |
Dropped (6.03) |
Unknown |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes† |
| ViolaWWW |
1992 |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Yes |
X11 |
WorldWideWeb
(Nexus) |
1991 |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
NEXTSTEP
OPENSTEP |
| Browser |
Years |
MS 2000/XP |
98/Me |
NT |
95 |
3.1 |
IBM OS/2 |
Mac OS X
(Intel/PPC) |
Mac OS 9 |
Mac OS 8 |
System 7
(PPC/68k) |
Linux |
BSD |
Unix
(HP-UX,
Solaris) |
Other |
[6] [7]
^ Cell phones, Symbian, Wii, Windows Mobile; BeOS (Dropped 3.62), QNX (Dropped 6.01)
General information
Basic general information about the browsers: creator/company, license/price etc.
| Browser |
Creator |
Cost (USD) |
Open Source? |
Software license |
Current layout engine |
| Amaya |
W3C, INRIA |
Free |
Yes |
W3C |
? |
| AOL Explorer |
America Online, Inc |
Free |
No |
|
Trident |
| Avant |
Avant Force |
Free |
No |
|
Trident |
| Camino |
The Camino Project |
Free |
Yes |
MPL, MPL/GPL/LGPL tri-license |
Gecko |
| Chromium |
Google |
Free |
Yes |
BSD |
WebKit |
| Dillo |
Jorge Arellano Cid, Geerken, Rota, et al. |
Free |
Yes |
GPL |
Dillo |
| ELinks |
Baudis, Fonseca, et al. |
Free |
Yes |
GPL |
? |
| Epiphany |
GNOME |
Free |
Yes |
GPL |
Gecko, WebKit |
| Flock |
Flock Inc |
Free |
Yes |
MPL |
Gecko |
| Galeon |
Marco Pesenti Gritti |
Free |
Yes |
GPL |
Gecko |
| Google Chrome |
Google |
Free |
No |
Google Chrome EULA |
WebKit |
| GNU IceCat |
GNU |
Free |
Yes |
GPL,MPL/LGPL tri-license |
Gecko |
| iCab |
Alexander Clauss |
Free,
$29 (Pro) |
No |
|
iCab, WebKit |
| Internet Explorer |
Microsoft,
Spyglass |
Free,
(requires a valid Windows license)[8] |
No |
|
Trident |
| Internet Explorer for Mac (Terminated) |
Microsoft |
Free |
No |
|
Tasman |
| K-Meleon |
Dorian, KKO, et al. |
Free |
Yes |
GPL |
Gecko |
| Konqueror |
KDE |
Free |
Yes |
GPL |
KHTML |
| Links |
Patocka, et al. |
Free |
Yes |
GPL |
? |
| Lynx |
Montulli, Grobe, Rezac, et al. |
Free |
Yes |
GPL |
built-in |
| Maxthon |
Maxthon International Limited |
Free |
No |
|
Trident, Gecko |
| Mosaic |
Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina, NCSA |
Free (non-commercial) |
No |
|
built-in |
| Mozilla |
Mozilla Foundation |
Free |
Yes |
MPL, MPL/GPL/LGPL tri-license |
Gecko |
| Mozilla Firefox |
Mozilla Foundation |
Free |
Yes |
MPL, MPL/GPL/LGPL tri-license, Mozilla EULA |
Gecko |
| Netscape (v.6-7) † |
Netscape Communications Corporation, AOL |
Free |
No |
???, MPL/GPL/LGPL tri-license |
Gecko |
| Netscape Browser (v.8) † |
Mercurial Communications for AOL |
Free |
No |
???, MPL, GPL/LGPL tri-license |
Trident, Gecko |
| Netscape Communicator (v.4) † |
Netscape Communications |
Free |
No |
|
? |
| Netscape Navigator (v.1-4) † |
Netscape Communications |
Free |
No |
|
? |
| Netscape Navigator 9 † |
Netscape Communications
(division of AOL) |
Free |
No |
???, MPL, GPL/LGPL tri-license |
Gecko |
| NetSurf |
The NetSurf Developers |
Free |
Yes |
GPL |
NetSurf built-in |
| OmniWeb |
The Omni Group |
$14.95 |
No |
???, LGPL |
WebKit |
| Opera |
Opera Software |
Free |
No |
|
Presto |
| Opera Mobile |
Opera Software |
$24 |
No |
|
Presto |
| Safari |
Apple Inc. |
Free |
No |
???, LGPL |
WebKit |
| SeaMonkey |
SeaMonkey Council |
Free |
Yes |
MPL, MPL/GPL/LGPL tri-license |
Gecko |
| Shiira |
Happy Macintosh Developing Team |
Free |
Yes |
BSD |
WebKit |
| WorldWideWeb (Later renamed Nexus) |
Tim Berners-Lee |
Free |
Yes |
Public domain |
NeXTSTEP built-in |
| w3m |
Akinori Ito |
Free |
Yes |
MIT License |
? |
| Browser |
Creator |
Cost (USD) |
open source |
Software license |
Current layout engine |
- ^ There are five different products which all carry the name Netscape: Netscape versions 1 to 4, properly called Netscape Navigator, was a browser based on the original Netscape engine. Netscape 4 also was available as an Internet suite, properly called Netscape Communicator. Netscape 6 and 7 was a new Internet suite based on the Gecko engine and the Mozilla Application Suite user interface. Netscape 8, properly called Netscape Browser, is a new browser based on Firefox that can use both the Gecko (Firefox) and Trident (Internet Explorer) engines. Netscape resumed use of the Navigator name from Netscape Navigator 9.0 beta 1. See Netscape for more info.
Release history
A brief overview of the release history.
| Browser |
First public release |
First stable release |
Latest stable release version date |
Latest testing release version date |
| Date |
Version |
Date |
Version |
| Amaya |
November 14, 1996 |
0.9 |
November 14, 1996 |
0.9 |
10.0.1 (2008-02-29; 225 days ago) |
10.1-pre4 (2008-08-29; 43 days ago) |
| AOL Explorer |
June, 2005 |
1.0 |
July, 2005 |
1.1 |
1.5 (May 10, 2006) |
none (n/a) |
| Avant |
August, 2004 |
? |
August, 2004 |
? |
11.7 Build 15 (September 27, 2008) |
none (n/a) |
| Camino |
February 13, 2002 |
0.1 |
February 14, 2006 |
1.0 |
1.6.4 (September 23, 2008) |
none (n/a) |
| Dillo |
December, 1999 |
0.0.0 |
December, 1999 |
0.0.0 |
0.8.6 (April 26, 2006) |
none (n/a) |
| ELinks |
December, 2001 |
? |
December, 2001 |
? |
0.11.5 (September 21, 2008) |
0.12pre1 (July 1, 2008) |
| Epiphany |
December 22, 2002 |
0.4 |
September 8, 2003 |
1.0 |
2.24.0.1 (2008-09-24; 17 days ago) |
none (n/a) |
| Flock |
October 24, 2005 |
0.4.9 |
November 2, 2007 |
1.0 |
1.2.6 (2008-09-12; 29 days ago) |
2.0 Beta 3 (2008-09-11; 30 days ago) |
| Galeon |
June, 2000 |
0.6 |
June, 2000 |
0.6 |
2.0.7 (2008-09-27; 14 days ago) |
none (n/a) |
| Google Chrome |
September 2, 2008 |
0.2.149.27 |
September 2, 2008 |
0.2.149.27 |
none (n/a) |
0.2.149.30 (2008-09-17; 24 days ago) |
| iCab |
February 17, 1999 |
Preview 1.0 |
February 17, 1999 |
Preview 1.0 |
4.2.5 (Oct 1, 2008) |
none (n/a) |
| Internet Explorer |
August, 1995 |
1.0 |
August, 1995 |
1.0 |
7.0 (October 16, 2006)† |
8.0 Beta 2 (2008-08-27; 45 days ago) |
| Internet Explorer for Mac |
January 23, 1996 |
2.0b |
April 23, 1996 |
2.0 |
5.2.3 (June 16, 2003) |
none (n/a) |
| K-Meleon |
November 26, 2000 |
0.2 |
November 26, 2000 |
0.2 |
1.5.0 (August 8, 2008) |
none (n/a) |
| Konqueror |
October, 2000 |
? |
October, 2000 |
? |
4.1.2 (2008-10-03; 8 days ago) |
none (n/a) |
| Links |
November 24, 1999 |
0.8 |
November 24, 1999 |
0.8 |
2.2 (July 11, 2008) |
none (n/a) |
| Lynx |
July 8, 1993 |
2.0.10 |
July 8, 1993 |
2.0.10 |
2.8.6 (October 11, 2006) |
none (n/a) |
| Maxthon |
July 11, 2002 |
0.1 (as MyIE2) |
September 8, 2005 |
1.0.0250 |
2.0.7.1245 (December 28, 2007) |
none (n/a) |
| Mosaic |
April 22, 1993 |
1.0 |
April 22, 1993 |
1.0 |
Unix: 2.6; Mac OS, Windows: 3.0 (Mac OS, Unix: 1996; Windows: 1997) |
none (n/a) |
| Mozilla |
December 7, 1998 |
"Preview" |
March 19, 1999 |
M3 |
1.7.13 (April 21, 2006) |
none (n/a) |
| Mozilla Firefox |
September 23, 2002 |
0.1 |
September 23, 2002 |
0.1 |
3.0.3 (2008-09-26; 15 days ago) |
3.1a2 (2008-09-05; 36 days ago) |
| Netscape |
April 5, 2000 |
6 Preview Release 1 |
November 14, 2000 |
6.0 |
7.2 (August 17, 2004) |
none (n/a) |
| Netscape Browser |
November 30, 2004 |
0.5.6+ |
May 19, 2005 |
8.0 |
8.1.3 (April 2, 2007) |
none (n/a) |
| Netscape Communicator |
June, 1997 |
4.0 |
June, 1997 |
4.0 |
4.8 (August 22, 2002) |
none (n/a) |
| Netscape Navigator |
October 13, 1994 |
0.9 |
October 13, 1994 |
0.9 |
4.08 (November 9, 1998) |
none (n/a) |
| Netscape Navigator 9 |
June 5, 2007 |
9.0 Beta 1 |
October 15, 2007 |
9.0 |
9.0.0.6 (February 20, 2008) |
none (n/a) |
| NetSurf |
June, 2002 |
0.00 |
May 19, 2007 |
1.0 |
1.2 (March 22, 2008) |
none (n/a) |
| OmniWeb |
1994 |
0.5 |
March 17, 1995 |
1.0 |
5.8 (September 26, 2008) |
none (n/a) |
| Opera |
September, 1996 |
2.1b1 |
December, 1996 |
2.1 |
9.60 (8 October 2008) |
none (n/a) |
| Safari |
January 7, 2003 |
0.8 |
June 23, 2003 |
1.0 |
3.1.2 (2008-06-19; 114 days ago)† |
4.0 Developer Beta (Build 40A12) (2008-08-22; 50 days ago) |
| SeaMonkey |
September 15, 2005 |
1.0a |
January 30, 2006 |
1.0 |
1.1.12 (2008-09-23; 18 days ago) |
2.0a1 (2008-10-05; 6 days ago) |
| Shiira |
? |
? |
? |
? |
2.2 (July 16, 2007) |
none (n/a) |
| WorldWideWeb |
December, 1990 |
? |
February 26, 1991 |
? |
0.18 (1994 ?) |
none (n/a) |
| w3m |
1995 |
? |
? |
? |
0.5.2 (May 31, 2007) |
none (n/a) |
| Browser |
Date |
Version |
Date |
Version |
Latest stable release version date |
Latest testing release version date |
| First public release |
First stable release |
- ^ As of February 2007, at least Windows XP SP2 or Windows Server 2003 SP1 is required to install the latest version (v7) of Internet Explorer for Windows. Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 is the last version that supports Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0 SP6a, and Windows 2000. Internet Explorer 7 is bundled with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
- ^ Safari is included with Mac OS X and the latest version is always available only from the OS install or OS updates.
|