Firefox

Mozilla Firefox (or simply Firefox) is a free and open-sourceweb browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. Firefox is available for Windows, OS X and Linux operating systems, with its mobile versions available for Android, and Firefox OS; where all of these versions use the Gecko layout engine to render web pages, which implements current and anticipated web standards, but an additional version released in late 2015 – Firefox for iOS has also been made available – that doesn't use Gecko.

Firefox was created in 2002, under the name "Phoenix" by the Mozilla community members who wanted a standalone browser rather than the Mozilla Application Suite bundle. Even during its beta phase, Firefox proved to be popular by its testers and was praised for its speed, security and add-ons compared to Microsoft's then-dominant Internet Explorer 6. Firefox was released in November 2004, and was highly successful with 60 million downloads within nine months, which was the first time that Internet Explorer's dominance was challenged. Firefox is considered the spiritual successor of Netscape Navigator, as the Mozilla community was created by Netscape in 1998 before their acquisition by AOL.

Mozilla

Mozilla is a free-software community, created in 1998 by members of Netscape. The Mozilla community uses, develops, spreads and supports Mozilla products, thereby promoting exclusively free software and open standards, with only minor exceptions. The community is supported institutionally by the Mozilla Foundation and its tax-paying subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation.

Mozilla produces many products such as the Firefox web browser, Thunderbird e-mail client, Firefox Mobile web browser, Firefox OS mobile operating system, Bugzilla bug tracking system and other projects.

History

On February 23, 1998, Netscape created a project called Mozilla (after the original code name of the Netscape Navigator browser which is a blending of "Mosaic and Godzilla") to co-ordinate the development of the Mozilla Application Suite, the open source version of Netscape's internet software, Netscape Communicator.Jamie Zawinski says he came up with the name "Mozilla" at a Netscape staff meeting. A small group of Netscape employees were tasked with coordination of the new community.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome is a freeware web browser developed by Google. It used the WebKit layout engine until version 27 and with the exception of its iOS releases, from version 28 and beyond uses the WebKit fork Blink. It was first released as a beta version for Microsoft Windows on September 2, 2008, and as a stable public release on December 11, 2008.

As of December 2015, StatCounter estimates that Google Chrome has a 58% worldwide usage share of web browsers as a desktop browser. It is also the most popular browser for smartphones, and combined across all platforms at about 45%. Its success has led to Google expanding the 'Chrome' brand name on various other products such as the Chromecast.

Google releases the majority of Chrome's source code as an open-source project Chromium. A notable component that is not open source is their version of the built-in Adobe Flash Player, called Pepper Flash Player.

History

Google CEO Eric Schmidt opposed the development of an independent web browser for six years. He stated that "at the time, Google was a small company," and he did not want to go through "bruising browser wars." After co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page hired several Mozilla Firefox developers and built a demonstration of Chrome, Schmidt admitted that "It was so good that it essentially forced me to change my mind."

Code Rush

Code Rush is a 2000 documentary following the lives of a group of Netscape engineers in Silicon Valley. It covers Netscape's last year as an independent company, from their announcement of the Mozilla open source project until their acquisition by AOL. It particularly focuses on the last minute rush to make the Mozilla source code ready for release by the deadline of March 31, 1998, and the impact on the engineers' lives and families as they attempt to save the company from ruin.

After Andy Baio uploaded the documentary to his personal website for the release of Mozilla Firefox 3 in 2009, director David Winton requested it be taken down, pending his decision about future distribution under a free content license. It has since been released under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 US license.

Featured Netscape employees