Timeline of web browsers

A time line of web browsers from the early 1990s to the present. Prior to browsers, many technologies and systems existed for information viewing and transmission. For an in depth history of earlier web browsers see the web browser article.

Graphical timeline

1993–2012

The following table chronicles the major release dates since 1993 for the more popular web browsers.

1993	Lynx
Jan
Feb
Mar	2.0*
Apr
May
Jun
Jul	2.0.10
Aug	2.0.11
Sep
Oct
Nov	2.0.12
Dec	2.1
1994	Lynx	Mosaic Netscape	Opera
Jan
Feb	2.2
Mar
Apr
May	2.3
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct		0.9*
Nov			1.0β*
Dec		1.0
1995	Lynx	Netscape	Opera	IE
Jan
Feb
Mar		1.1
Apr			1.0
May
Jun	2.4
Jul
Aug		1.22		1.0*
Sep
Oct
Nov				2.0
Dec
1996	Lynx	Netscape	Opera	IE	Mac IE
Jan					2.0B*
Feb
Mar		2.0
Apr			2.0		2.0
May	2.5
Jun
Jul
Aug		3.0		3.0	2.1
Sep	2.6
Oct
Nov
Dec			2.10
1997	Lynx	Netscape	Opera	IE	Mac IE
Jan					3.0
Feb	2.7
Mar
Apr
May
Jun		4.0
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct				4.0
Nov
Dec			3.0
1998	Lynx	Netscape	Opera	IE	Mac IE
Jan					4.0
Feb
Mar	2.8
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct	2.8.1	4.5
Nov			3.5
Dec
1999	Lynx	Netscape	Opera	IE	Mac IE	Mozilla
Jan					4.5
Feb
Mar				5.0		M3*
Apr
May
Jun	2.8.2
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
2000	Lynx	Netscape	Opera	IE	Mac IE	Mozilla
Jan
Feb
Mar					5.0†
Apr	2.8.3
May
Jun			4.0
Jul				5.5
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov		6.0
Dec			5.0			0.6
2001	Lynx	Netscape	Opera	IE		Mozilla
Jan						0.7
Feb						0.8
Mar
Apr
May						0.9
Jun
Jul	2.8.4
Aug		6.1
Sep
Oct		6.2		6.0
Nov			6.0
Dec
2002	Lynx	Netscape	Opera	IE	Chimera	Mozilla	Phoenix
Jan
Feb					0.1*
Mar
Apr					0.2
May
Jun						1.0
Jul					0.4
Aug		7.0 (& 4.8)				1.1
Sep				6.0 SP1	0.5		0.1*
Oct							0.4
Nov					0.6	1.2
Dec							0.5
2003	Lynx	Netscape	Opera	IE	Camino	Mozilla	Firebird	Safari	MyIE2
Jan			7.0
Feb
Mar					0.7	1.3
Apr			7.1
May							0.6
Jun		7.1				1.4		1.0*
Jul
Aug
Sep			7.2
Oct						1.5	0.7
Nov
Dec									.9*
2004	Lynx	Netscape	Opera	IE	Camino	Mozilla	Firefox	Safari	Maxthon
Jan						1.6
Feb	2.8.5						0.8
Mar
Apr
May			7.5
Jun					0.8	1.7	0.9
Jul
Aug		7.2		6.0 SP2
Sep							0.10 (PR)		1.0*
Oct
Nov							1.0
Dec
2005	Lynx	Netscape	Opera	IE	Camino	Mozilla SeaMonkey	Firefox	Safari	Maxthon	Lunascape
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr			8.0					2.0
May		8.0
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep			8.5			SM 1.0α*			1.5	3.0 (JPN)*
Oct
Nov							1.5
Dec
2006	Lynx	Netscape	Opera	IE	Camino	Mozilla SeaMonkey	Firefox	Safari	Maxthon	Lunascape
Jan		8.1				SM 1.0
Feb					1.0
Mar										3 Lite/3 Pocket (JPN)
Apr						M. 1.7.13†
May
Jun			9.0
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct	2.8.6			7.0			2.0
Nov										4.0*
Dec			9.1
2007	Lynx	Netscape	Opera	IE	Camino	SeaMonkey	Firefox	Safari	Maxthon	Lunascape	NetSurf
Jan						1.1
Feb
Mar
Apr			9.2
May									1.6		1.0*
Jun					1.5			3.0
Jul									2.0
Aug											1.1
Sep
Oct		9.0
Nov
Dec
2008	Lynx	Netscape	Opera	IE	Camino	SeaMonkey	Firefox	Safari	Maxthon	Lunascape	NetSurf	Iron
Jan
Feb		9.0.0.6†
Mar								3.1			1.2
Apr					1.6
May									2.1
Jun			9.5				3.0
Jul
Aug		Chrome
Sep		0.2.149.27*							2.1	5.0 Alpha (JPN)		0.2.155*
Oct			9.6
Nov
Dec		1.0							2.5			1.0
2009	Lynx	Chrome	Opera	IE	Camino	SeaMonkey	Firefox	Safari	Maxthon	Lunascape	NetSurf	Iron	ChromePlus
Jan
Feb
Mar				8.0
Apr											2.0
May		2.0									2.1	2.0
Jun							3.5	4.0
Jul	2.8.7												1.0*
Aug													1.1
Sep		3.0	10.0							5.1.5		3.0	1.2
Oct						2.0
Nov			10.10		2.0								1.3
Dec										6.0
2010	Lynx	Chrome	Opera	IE	Camino	SeaMonkey	Firefox	Safari	Maxthon	Lunascape	NetSurf	Iron	ChromePlus
Jan		4.0					3.6					4.0
Feb
Mar			10.50
Apr										6.1.1	2.5
May		5.0
Jun								4.1, 5.0				5.0	1.4
Jul			10.60							6.2
Aug									3.0	6.3
Sep		6.0									2.6	6.0
Oct		7.0										7.0
Nov													1.5
Dec		8.0	11.0									8.0
2011	Lynx	Chrome	Opera	IE	Camino	SeaMonkey	Firefox	Safari	Maxthon	Lunascape	NetSurf	Iron	CoolNovo
Jan	2.8.8.dev8									6.4.1
Feb		9.0										9.0
Mar		10.0		9.0			4.0					10.0	1.6
Apr		11.0	11.10								2.7
May										6.5		11.0
June		12.0	11.50			2.1	5.0		3.1.1
July						2.2		5.1				12.0
Aug		13.0					6.0					13.0
Sep		14.0				2.4.1	7.0				2.8	14.0
Oct		15.0							3.2
Nov					2.1	2.5	8.0					15.0	1.6.4.30
Dec		16.0	11.60			2.6	9.0						2.0
2012	Lynx	Chrome	Opera	IE	Camino	SeaMonkey	Firefox	Safari	Maxthon	Lunascape	NetSurf	Iron	CoolNovo
Jan						2.7.1	10.0
Feb	2.8.8.dev12	17.0											2.0.1
Mar		18.0	11.62			2.8	11.0	5.1.5
Apr						2.9.1	12.0			6.7.0	2.9	18.0
May		19.0	11.64					5.1.7	3.3.8:3000	6.7.1

• * Initial release
• † No subsequent releases are planned

References

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2011)

See also

• Eric Meyer's take on a browser timeline
• Fresh-browsers.com major web browsers history
• Google Chrome teams The Evolution of the Web

v t e Early web browsers (up to 1996) Comparison History List for Unix Timeline Usage share 1990 WorldWideWeb (Nexus) 1991 Line Mode Browser (libwww) 1992 ViolaWWW Erwise MidasWWW MacWWW (Samba) tkWWW 1993 NCSA Mosaic AMosaic VMS Mosaic Cello Lynx (2.0) Arena 1994 IBM WebExplorer Netscape Navigator MicroMind SlipKnot (1.0) TradeWave MacWeb IBrowse Navipress Argo Minuet AIR Mosaic (Internet in a Box) Spyglass Mosaic TCP/Connect II ANT Fresco 1995 Internet Explorer 1 Netscape Navigator 2.0 OmniWeb Sun WebRunner (HotJava) Grail Internet Explorer 2 Delrina Cyberjack AOL Web Browser for Macintosh eWorld Web Browser for Macintosh NetShark WebShark Opera AMSD Ariadna UdiWWW ALynx 1996 Arachne 1.0 Internet Explorer 3 Netscape Navigator 3.0 Oracle PowerBrowser Apple Cyberdog INRIA Amaya (.9) AWeb VaporWare Voyager tcpCONNECT4 Related articles 3D Markup Language for Web Aliweb ARPANET ASCII BITNET Browser wars CompuServe Email Elm File Transfer Protocol Gopher HyperCard HTML HyTelnet libwww NCSA Telnet NLS Prodigy Teletext Telnet Usenet UUCP Videotex Viewdata Virtual Reality Markup Language Web page Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog World Wide Web X.25

v t e Web browsers Comparison History List (for Unix) Timeline Usage share Features Ad filtering Augmented browsing Download manager Cookies Favicon Incremental search Bookmarks (Bookmarklet Live bookmark Smart Bookmark) Browser security Privacy mode Browser synchronizer (comparison) Tabbed browsing Universal Edit Button Plugin Extension Web standards Acid tests Cascading Style Sheets HTML HTML5 OCSP SVG XHTML WebGL JavaScript MathML Related topics World Wide Web Widget Rich Internet application Site-specific browser Internet suite Mobile Web Offline reader BrowserChoice.eu Pwn2Own iLoo Man-in-the-browser WPAD PAC SPDY HTTP HTTPS SSL/TLS WebSocket XML CRL   Desktop Trident-based AOL Explorer Avant Conqueror Browser Deepnet Explorer GreenBrowser Lunascape Maxthon MenuBox NeoPlanet NetCaptor Internet Explorer MediaBrowser Sleipnir SlimBrowser SpaceTime UltraBrowser WebbIE ZAC Browser Gecko-based AT&T Pogo Avant Beonex Communicator Camino Classilla Conkeror Epic Firefox Flock (versions before 3.0) Galeon Ghostzilla GNU IceCat K-Meleon Kazehakase Kirix Strata Lotus Symphony Lunascape Mozilla Netscape Pale Moon SeaMonkey Sleipnir Swiftfox Swiftweasel TenFourFox Timberwolf xB Browser WebKit-based or KHTML-based Arora Avant Chrome Chromium Dragon Dooble Flock (version 3.0+) Fluid iCab Konqueror Lunascape Maxthon Midori OmniWeb Origyn Web Browser QupZilla rekonq RockMelt Safari Shiira Sputnik SRWare Iron Uzbl Web WebPositive xxxterm Presto-based Opera Text-based ELinks Emacs/W3 Line Mode Browser Links Lynx Net-Tamer w3m Other abaco Amaya Arachne Arena Charon Dillo EGBrowser Gazelle IBM Home Page Reader IBrowse KidZui Mosaic-CK Mothra NetPositive NetSurf Oregano VMS Mosaic   Mobile WebKit-based Android Browser Chrome Dolphin Browser S60 web browser Safari Silk Nintendo 3DS Internet Browser Steel BOLT Presto-based Nintendo DS & DSi Browser Opera Mini Opera Mobile Gecko-based Firefox for mobile MicroB Minimo Other Blazer Deepfish Galio ibisBrowser Internet Explorer Mobile Iris Browser JOCA Konqueror Embedded NetFront Obigo Browser Skweezer Skyfire Teashark ThunderHawk UC Browser uZard Web Vision WinWAP   Television and video game console WebKit-based Google TV NetFront Steam overlay Presto-based Internet Channel Gecko-based Kylo Other Galio MSN TV (WebTV) Software no longer in development shown in italics Category  Commons