How We Got the Favicon
Written by Jay Hoffmann on July 24, 2017.
The favicon was a total experiment, the result of a bit of serendipity and luck.
"In 1999 the two largest browsers, Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer, were in all out war for control of the market. Looming just ahead was the release of Internet Explorer 5, in March of 1999, a release that would give users a free browser deeply integrated into the Windows operating system, and deliver a final blow to Netscape Navigator’s market share. In the years to come, it would feature heavily in an antitrust suit brought against Microsoft."
"Shyam chose the .ico format because it was the standard Windows format for icons, and was used extensively by the Windows operating system. And since browsers were, at the time, developed in what were essentially vacuums, that made some kind of sense. So did the subsequent choice of having developers drop the icon in a servers root folder, since this was typically an easy task on Windows web servers."
"As the story goes, late one night, Shyam was working on his new favicon feature. He called over junior project manager Ray Sun to take a look."
"Shyam commented, “This is good, right? Check it in?”, requesting permission to check the code into the Internet Explorer codebase so it could be released in the next version. Sun didn’t think too much of it, the feature was cool and would clearly give IE an edge. So he told Shyam to go ahead and add it. And just like that, the favicon made its way into Internet Explorer 5, which would go on to become one of the largest browser releases the web has ever seen."
"The next day, Sun was reprimanded by his manager for letting the feature get by so quickly. As it turns out, Shyam had specifically waited until later in the day, knowing that a less experienced Program Manager would give him a pass. But by then, the code had been merged in. Incidentally, you’d be surprised just how many relatively major browser features have snuck their way into releases like this."
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