On Nov. 9, 2004, Mozilla Released Firefox 1.0 and Dared the Web to Leave Internet Explorer Behind

In the fall of 2004, most people on the internet reached it through the same blue "e" icon that came preinstalled on their Windows computers. On Nov. 9 of that year, the Mozilla Foundation released Firefox 1.0, a free browser that asked users to do something that then felt faintly rebellious: download an alternative.

The Underdog Browser

Firefox had a long and winding road to its launch. It grew out of code released by Netscape, the once-dominant browser maker that had lost the so-called browser wars to Microsoft. Developers began the project under the name Phoenix, later changed it to Firebird, and settled on Firefox in early 2004 after naming disputes. By then, Internet Explorer held an overwhelming share of the market, and development of it had slowed. Firefox 1.0 arrived with features that quickly became standards: tabbed browsing, a built-in pop-up blocker, and a design that put security and customization up front. For users tired of pop-up ads and spyware, the pitch was simple. The irony was hard to miss. The code that Netscape had cast off after losing the war was now being rebuilt into the most serious challenge Microsoft's browser had faced in years.

What made the launch distinctive was how it was powered. Mozilla had no giant advertising budget, so it leaned on its community. Supporters spread the word online, and the foundation raised money from donors to run a full-page advertisement in The New York Times on Dec. 16, 2004, listing the names of those who contributed. The campaign turned a software release into something closer to a movement. Over the following years, Firefox's growth chipped away at Internet Explorer's dominance and pushed Microsoft to start improving its own browser again. The little browser with the fox on a globe had not toppled the giant, but it had made the giant move.