A menu-driven and user-friendly hypertext system (also called NCSA Mosaic) of Internet sites that facilitate searching and browsing of documents and files around the world. Mosaic has largely been overtaken by more modern web browsers. (See
Web browsers) For users not connected to the Internet, Mosaic can also be used with SLIP. Mosaic combines various former Internet servers such as Gopher Servers, World Wide Web, InterNIC InfoSource, ftp Sites, Finger Gateway, Whois Gateway, and Home Pages.
Stefanac (1994) provides both a brief history of the Internet and an excellent review (including Internet addresses of World Wide Web sites with their Uniform Resource Locator Addresses) of newer options for transmitting graphics, audio, and video over Mosaic networks.
Rivera, Singh, and McAlister (1994) term Mosaic as an "educator's best friend." Key features include world wide free networking by graphical interfacing to text, pictures, digitized video, and audio. Clicking on a highlighted Mosaic hotword or phrase (indicating a hyperlinked term) will complete a connection to the appropriate server to display documents, graphics, audio, or other multimedia files. Mosaic is becoming even more popular than Gopher largely due to the graphics-orientation of Mosaic and commercial developers of Mosaic interfaces. Internet users interested in Mosaic should contact the Software Development Group, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, 605 E. Springfield, Champaign, IL 61820 (217-244-0072). The e-mail address is mosaic@ncsa.uiuc.edu. Newsweek on October 31, 1994, page 60, asserts that NCSA Mosaic "free software works widely but not well." Enhanced NCSA from Spyglass Inc. and Netscape from Mosaic Communications Corporation have improved Mosaic code. James Clark, former CEO of Silicon Graphics Corporation, on May 16, 1994 announced the opening of Mosaic Communications Corporation in Mountain View, CA (415-254-1900) to develop software that interfaces business firms with direct Internet access. This interfacing development company has tough competitors such as Spry Inc. in Seattle, WA (206-447-0300) and others according to Information Week, May 23, 1994, p. 20. Spry Inc. specializes in connectivity tools for Microsoft Windows and has a new Mosaic interface ready for shipment. According to PC Computing, July 1994, p. 113:
Mosaic does the seemingly impossible: And its free! Mosaic provides easy net navigation by using hypertext links, and it lets you view graphics and embedded sounds while you're online.
For web browsers see Web browsers, GINA, Gopher, Internet, and SLIP.
