Shared objects could be accessed and modified by any thread, which made it easy to share state between clients but also came with important risks. Netscape's runtime was multi-threaded and allowed for sharing objects between threads of a given application. A global write() function was used conjointly to "print" content on the page.Įnter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode LiveWire introduced a tag, the likes of ASP's <% and PHP's
How did LiveWire's server-side JavaScript work? Netscape chose a different approach and went "all in" with server-side JavaScript, which was the centerpiece of LiveWire.
While ASP did support JScript (Microsoft's early implementation of JavaScript), it was only one of the 3 languages supported, alongside VBScript and PerlScript. We therefore had Microsoft on one side with the "Internet Information Services" (IIS) suite, featuring their "Active Server Pages" (ASP) server-side scripting technology, and "Netscape Enterprise Server" with its LiveWire application development solution on the other. This constituted an important part of Netscape's business model, and something Microsoft invested in as part of their newfound interest for the internet.
NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR 2 SOFTWARE
While Netscape and Microsoft were distributing their browser free of charge, both companies were also in the business of selling enterprise-level software to companies and institutions looking for a "one stop shop" solution to their web server and web development needs. Today we're going to have a look at Netscape LiveWire, an extension of "Netscape Enterprise Server" that made writing server-side JavaScript applications possible more than 10 years before it was cool. We are at the very beginning of what would become "The First Browser War": how JavaScript evolved and grew in that context is a story often told, but did you know that JavaScript was also used as a server-side scripting language as early as 1996? JavaScript is less than a year old, making its grand public debut with the release of Netscape Navigator 2.0 to a both intrigued and somewhat bewildered web development community. I sadly place the first browser I ever used into the TechCrunch DeadPool.”Īnd finally, a look back at the early days of the Mosaic and Netscape browsers.The year is 1996.
NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR 2 ARCHIVE
….AOL is also setting up a Netscape Archive where users will be able to download old versions of Netscape, without any support. Most of their efforts have been aimed at creating a Netscape-skinned version of Firefox with the Netscape look and feel. ….In an email exchange yesterday with Tom Drapeau, Director of AOL/Netscape development, he said that only a handful of AOL engineers are still tasked with keeping the browser updated. AOL, which acquired Netscape in November 1998 for $4.2 billion, will announce today that they will discontinue development of the browser, currently on version 9. Netscape Navigator, the browser that launched the commercial Internet in October 1994, will die on February 1, 2008. “Please observe a moment of silence for the Netscape browser.
The following comes from the 2007 TechCrunch article, “A Sad Milestone: AOL To Discontinue Netscape Browser Development.” Mosaic Communications Corporation Image, 1994 Netscape will help bring more people on the Internet than any program since the original NCSA Mosaic.’” The resources that Mosaic Communications provides for its novice users in Netscape, such as the Internet directories, rival any other site on the net for their quality and depth. ‘Netscape is the first Internet tool that lets the average user with a 14.4 kb modem work with the Internet interactively,’ said Todd Haedrich, principal of Point of Presence Company in Seattle.
NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR 2 FOR FREE
The new Internet navigator, developed by the six-month-old Silicon Valley company led by Silicon Graphics founder Jim Clark and NCSA Mosaic creator Marc Andreessen, is available immediately for free downloading by individual, academic and research users. “ Mosaic Communications Corporation today announced that it is offering its newly introduced Netscape network navigator free to users via the Internet. Here is an excerpt from the original news release:
Institut für Gestaltungs- und Wirkungsforschung Image