MacWWW
 | |
 Screenshot of MacWWW | |
| Developer(s) | Robert Cailliau, Nicola Pellow[1] |
|---|---|
| Initial release | December 1992[2] |
| Final release | 1.03[3]
|
| Written in | THINK C[1] |
| Operating system | Mac OS[1] System 6.0.5,[4] System 7[4] |
| Available in | English |
| Type | Web browser |
MacWWW, also known as Samba,[5][6][7] is an early minimalist web browser from 1992 meant to run on Macintosh computers. It was the first web browser for the Mac OS platform, and the first for any non-Unix operating system. MacWWW tries to emulate the design of WorldWideWeb.[5] Unlike modern browsers it opens each link in a new window only after a double-click.[3] It was a commercial product from CERN and cost 50 European Currency Units[6]
The browser is no longer available from its original ftp location, but can still be downloaded from mirrors.[A 1]
History
It was written at CERN by Robert Cailliau and later Nicola Pellow helped with the development.[5][7] Pellow worked original on the Line Mode Browser and both browsers shared some parts of the source code after her switching.[1] Pre-alpha version were available, but this version worked only on "coliur mac but not on big black and white ones it seems."[2]
Version 1.00 was released on 12 May 1993 with the commentary: "We know there is much to be improved, but it works well on system 7 and system 6.0.5".[4]
Features
The MacWWW which was a minimalist browser displayed only text and hotlinks, no images nor lists.[8][3]
- Implemented in THINK C using its human interface objects.
- Uses much code in common with the Line Mode browser.[1] This code later became libwww.[2]
- For the hypertext object, the THINK C text object was modified to allow multifont capability, and to allow anchors to be encoded in the styles.[1]
It was criticized that within a year the browser became obsolete because Mosaic and MacWeb were much more feature richness., for example that there is no loading status.[3] Without the mouse and MacOS support MacWWW would be a text-mode browser.[3]
See also
Annotations
- ^ The original ftp location at ftp://info.cern.ch/pub/www/bin/mac/ is no longer available.
References
- ^ a b c d e f Berners-Lee, Tim (3 November 1992). "Macintosh Browser". World Wide Web Consortium. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
- ^ a b c Berners-Lee, Tim (3 November 1992). "Macintosh Browser". World Wide Web Consortium. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
- ^ a b c d e December, John; Randall, Neil (1994). The World Wide Web Unleashed. Sams Publishing. p. 229-233. ISBN 0672306174.
- ^ a b c Evans, Peter (7 September 2003). "Optimized for no one, but pretty much OK with . . ". Retrieved 3 June 2010.
- ^ a b c Tim Berners-Lee. "Frequently asked questions - Robert Cailliau's role". World Wide Web Consortium. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
- ^ a b Engst, Adam C. (24 January 2000). "Chapter 25: Other Web-related Programs". Retrieved 3 June 2010.
- ^ a b Stewart, Bill. "Web Browser History". Living Internet. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
- ^ Inc, IDG Network World (22 August 1994). "Internet". Network World. IDG Network World Inc: 36–. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
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External links
- MacWWW description and screenshot
- evolt.org - This browser archive has version 1.03 for download