Netscape Navigator

The dominating World Wide Web browser during the first years of the commercial Internet -- from about 1994 to 1997 until Internet Explorer hit the screens -- it was developed by Marc Andreessen, based on the Mosaic browser. 

In addition to being a Web browser, this software program also allowed Gopher, FTP, and Telnet access, as well as e-mail and newsgroup retrieval and management. Many companies used Netscape server software to create Web pages, which is why you sometimes saw statements such as "best viewed with Netscape Navigator" in the early days.

Historical perspective: As a company, Netscape was co-founded by Dr. James Clark (of SGI) and Marc Andreessen (of Mosaic), Netscape released its Web browser software in 1994, free of charge. They did this in order to be first-to-market and to gain market share. The company cashed in on the Web with a legendary IPO in August of 1995. It valued them at more than $4 billion dollars and led the way for many more wildly successful IPOs. The company was acquired by America Online in 1999, which was then acquired by Time Warner in 2000.