Netscape Domination

Netscape's second generation browser arrived in the fall of 1995. (Beta versions that was - Netscape was always very keen on letting users try out their software thoroughly.) The difference from previous versions of Navigator was remarkable. Not only did it feature "HTML 3.0" proposed enhancements such as frames and client side imagemaps. It included the first versions of what is three years later still the main attributes of a web browser: Java support, LiveScript (today known as JavaScript), a plug-in api, and encryption technology (SSL) enabling secure transactions over the Internet.


The seal of an SSL encrypted webpage.

Talking of plug-ins, there is one particular piece of software which did come as a plug-in for Navigator, but which has become widely used as an oldfashioned helper application. I am thinking of RealAudio.

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