It’s hard to believe that it was almost 20 years ago, on November 9, 2004, when Firefox first launched. Who could have predicted that this spiritual successor to Netscape Navigator would not only survive but thrive in the ever-evolving world of web browsers?

With Mozilla Firefox 132 now available for download, just a few days ahead of the browser’s big 20th anniversary milestone, it’s the perfect moment to celebrate! This update brings great news, including enhanced privacy features like blocked third-party cookies (goodbye, creepy ads that seem to follow you around!) and a host of other cool enhancements that make upgrading worthwhile.

A Quick (and Slightly Hilarious) History of Firefox

The tale of Firefox begins with Marc Andreessen, one of the brains behind the NCSA Mosaic browser, who decided in 1994 that the world needed a new champion in web browsing: Netscape. Netscape Navigator quickly soared to popularity, dominating the mid-1990s with over 80% of the market share. Things were amazing for Netscape, but one day, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer showed up in and turned the whole scene upside down.

In the end, Microsoft won the browser war against Netscape because it could place Internet Explorer for free on the home screens of over 90% of the personal computers sold at the time. That’s like showing up at the prom with the hottest date—good luck competing with that!

In a bold move in 1998, Netscape decided to release its browser’s source code to the public. This led to the formation of the Mozilla Foundation, tasked with continuing development and bringing a fresh approach to browsing.

Fast forward to November 9, 2004, when Mozilla launched Firefox 1.0, ushering in a new era of web surfing. In an amusing twist, just months earlier, Mozilla announced that the browser would be renamed from Firebird, to Phoenix, and finally to Firefox. That day also marked the release of version 0.8, setting the stage for what would become one of the top browsers in the world!

As we celebrate this 20-year journey, it’s clear that Firefox has navigated through ups and downs, much like our own attempts to avoid pop-up ads. You can check out the original Mozilla press release and explore the version history on Wikipedia for more details. Here’s to many more years of innovation and user empowerment!