MacWeb

Infobox Software
name = MacWeb



caption = MacWeb 1.1.1E.1
developer = TradeWave
released = initial release|1994|5|31
latest_release_version = 2.0
latest_release_date = 1996
operating_system = Mac OS
genre = Web Browser
license = Freeware
website = N/A

MacWeb was an early Mac OS-only web browser for 68k and PowerPC Apple Macintosh computers, developed by TradeWave (formerly EINet) between 1994 and 1996. MacWeb's major attraction was its ability to run well on low-end hardware, with small memory (1 MB or less) and disk (680 kB, small enough to fit on a floppy disk) footprints as well as fast (but simple) page display. TradeWave also developed a similar Microsoft Windows browser named WinWeb. However, they were eclipsed by more full-featured competitors such as Netscape Navigator, and development was eventually abandoned.

The first public release was 0.98-alpha on May 31, 1994, and the final official release was version 2.0 in 1996. An unofficial "2.0c" patch was released by Antoine Hébert in 1998 to correct a problem on old machines not supporting color QuickDraw.

Although Morgan (1995) states that MacWeb was the second web browser released for the Macintosh, this is not quite true. The MacWWW browser became available in 1992 and the Mosaic web browser was released for the Mac in 1993.

References

* [http://browsers.evolt.org/?macweb/ MacWeb archive] on "evolt.org"
* Eric Lease Morgan, " [http://www.infomotions.com/musings/tricks/manuscript/0400-0003.html MacWeb] ", from "Teaching a New Dog Old Tricks" article on "infomotions.com" (September 26, 1995)