<s>
SlipKnot	B-Protocol
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
earliest	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	B-Application
browsers	I-Application
,	O
available	O
to	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
users	O
between	O
November	O
1994	O
and	O
January	O
1998	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
created	O
by	O
Peter	O
Brooks	O
of	O
MicroMind	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
fully	O
graphical	O
view	O
of	O
the	O
web	O
for	O
users	O
without	O
a	O
SLIP	B-Protocol
or	O
other	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
connection	O
to	O
the	O
net	O
,	O
hence	O
the	O
name	O
–	O
SLIP	B-Protocol
...	O
not	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SlipKnot	B-Protocol
provided	O
a	O
graphical	O
web	O
experience	O
through	O
what	O
would	O
otherwise	O
be	O
a	O
text-only	O
Unix	B-Application
shell	I-Application
account	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SlipKnot	B-Protocol
version	O
1.0	O
was	O
released	O
on	O
November	O
22	O
,	O
1994	O
,	O
approximately	O
3	O
weeks	O
before	O
Netscape	O
's	O
Netscape	B-Protocol
Navigator	I-Protocol
version	O
1.0	O
came	O
out	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
serve	O
a	O
significant	O
fraction	O
of	O
PC/Windows	O
-based	O
Internet	O
users	O
who	O
could	O
not	O
use	O
Mosaic	B-Application
or	O
Netscape	O
at	O
that	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
was	O
released	O
in	O
the	O
following	O
year	O
after	O
SlipKnot	B-Protocol
,	O
in	O
August	O
1995	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1994	O
and	O
1995	O
,	O
the	O
majority	O
of	O
home	O
PC	O
users	O
who	O
were	O
interested	O
in	O
accessing	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
had	O
to	O
do	O
so	O
using	O
terminal-based	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
users	O
usually	O
had	O
dial-up	O
shell	O
accounts	O
with	O
their	O
employers	O
 '	O
Unix	B-Application
machines	O
or	O
with	O
commercial	O
UNIX	B-Application
ISPs	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
would	O
run	O
a	O
terminal	B-Application
emulator	I-Application
program	O
on	O
their	O
PCs	O
,	O
temporarily	O
turning	O
the	O
machines	O
into	O
black	B-Application
screen	I-Application
terminals	I-Application
,	O
dial	O
into	O
the	O
Unix	B-Application
server	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
run	O
text-based	O
internet	O
software	O
such	O
as	O
pine	B-Operating_System
and	O
elm	B-Application
for	O
e-mail	O
,	O
gopher	B-Protocol
for	O
file	O
retrieval	O
,	O
and	O
lynx	B-Application
or	O
www	B-Protocol
for	O
a	O
text-based	O
browsing	O
experience	O
of	O
the	O
new	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
this	O
text-based	O
browsing	O
was	O
fine	O
while	O
web	O
pages	O
were	O
text-only	O
,	O
Mosaic	B-Application
changed	O
the	O
browser	B-Application
and	O
web-page	O
landscape	O
in	O
1993	O
by	O
displaying	O
and	O
therefore	O
encouraging	O
graphical	O
,	O
multimedia	O
and	O
multifont	O
web	O
pages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mosaic	B-Application
had	O
been	O
developed	O
by	O
university	O
programmers	O
who	O
had	O
access	O
to	O
full	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
connections	O
and	O
high-speed	O
transmissions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
evident	O
in	O
the	O
design	O
of	O
the	O
program	O
–	O
for	O
instance	O
,	O
after	O
clicking	O
on	O
a	O
hypertext	O
link	O
,	O
the	O
user	O
had	O
to	O
wait	O
until	O
all	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
page	O
had	O
been	O
retrieved	O
by	O
the	O
browser	B-Application
before	O
anything	O
showed	O
on	O
the	O
screen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
High-speed	O
connections	O
allowed	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
'	O
s	O
ability	O
to	O
do	O
multiple	O
retrievals	O
at	O
once	O
,	O
and	O
for	O
the	O
delay	O
between	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
request	O
for	O
a	O
page	O
and	O
its	O
appearance	O
to	O
be	O
short	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Therefore	O
,	O
not	O
only	O
could	O
Mosaic	B-Application
not	O
be	O
used	O
by	O
most	O
home	O
users	O
because	O
of	O
their	O
lack	O
of	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
connections	O
,	O
but	O
even	O
if	O
they	O
had	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
,	O
the	O
low	O
speed	O
of	O
home	O
modems	B-Application
would	O
bring	O
out	O
the	O
problems	O
in	O
the	O
Mosaic	B-Application
design	O
for	O
slower	O
speed	O
connections	O
(	O
typically	O
9600	O
and	O
14.4k	O
baud	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1994	O
,	O
some	O
ISPs	O
started	O
to	O
offer	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
connections	O
via	O
dial-in	O
modems	B-Application
,	O
with	O
protocols	O
like	O
SLIP	B-Protocol
and	O
PPP	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
But	O
this	O
was	O
leading-edge	O
technology	O
,	O
and	O
so	O
it	O
was	O
extraordinarily	O
difficult	O
to	O
set	O
up	O
and	O
maintain	O
a	O
home	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
connection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Therefore	O
,	O
a	O
large	O
fraction	O
of	O
home	O
users	O
were	O
stuck	O
with	O
dial-up	O
Unix	B-Application
shell	I-Application
connections	O
,	O
and	O
could	O
not	O
use	O
Mosaic	B-Application
,	O
or	O
Netscape	O
,	O
or	O
any	O
of	O
the	O
other	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
-based	O
browsers	B-Application
that	O
business	O
-	O
and	O
academia-based	O
users	O
enjoyed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Having	O
seen	O
Mosaic	B-Application
late	O
in	O
1993	O
and	O
been	O
captivated	O
by	O
its	O
potential	O
,	O
Peter	O
Brooks	O
set	O
out	O
in	O
April	O
1994	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
fully	O
graphic	O
,	O
multifont	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
for	O
home	O
PC	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
it	O
the	O
first	O
purchasable	O
browser	B-Application
on	O
the	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
name	O
is	O
a	O
play	O
on	O
the	O
term	O
slip	B-Protocol
knot	O
(	O
a	O
type	O
of	O
knot	O
)	O
against	O
SLIP	B-Protocol
(	O
Serial	B-Protocol
Line	I-Protocol
Internet	I-Protocol
Protocol	I-Protocol
)	O
–	O
an	O
early	O
version	O
of	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
over	O
modem	B-Application
lines	O
–	O
and	O
not	O
after	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
,	O
unlike	O
Mosaic	B-Application
and	O
Netscape	O
browser	B-Application
offerings	O
,	O
a	O
SLIP	B-Protocol
connection	O
was	O
not	O
necessary	O
to	O
view	O
graphical	O
web	O
content	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SlipKnot	B-Protocol
was	O
given	O
the	O
Best	O
Communications	O
Shareware	B-License
Program	O
of	O
1995	O
Award	O
by	O
Ziff-Davis	O
and	O
was	O
runner-up	O
for	O
the	O
Best	O
Overall	O
Shareware	B-License
Program	O
of	O
1995	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
mid-1996	O
when	O
further	O
development	O
ceased	O
,	O
the	O
majority	O
of	O
home	O
internet	O
users	O
were	O
able	O
to	O
obtain	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
connections	O
that	O
were	O
easy	O
to	O
install	O
,	O
and	O
all	O
new	O
internet	O
software	O
development	O
was	O
dependent	O
upon	O
that	O
protocol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SlipKnot	B-Protocol
's	O
rendering	O
engine	O
was	O
written	O
in	O
C	B-Language
,	O
and	O
its	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
in	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
it	O
had	O
only	O
a	O
Unix	B-Application
commandline	O
to	O
communicate	O
with	O
,	O
it	O
"	O
drove	O
"	O
the	O
Unix	B-Application
host	O
by	O
sending	O
characters	O
to	O
its	O
commandline	O
as	O
if	O
a	O
person	O
were	O
typing	O
them	O
(	O
as	O
a	O
"	O
bot	O
"	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
First	O
,	O
SlipKnot	B-Protocol
would	O
request	O
the	O
retrieval	O
of	O
individual	O
parts	O
of	O
a	O
desired	O
web	O
page	O
–	O
the	O
text	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
each	O
picture	O
–	O
into	O
files	O
on	O
the	O
Unix	B-Application
host	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
done	O
by	O
executing	O
the	O
text-based	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
"	O
lynx	B-Application
"	O
on	O
the	O
Unix	B-Application
host	O
with	O
command-line	O
arguments	O
indicating	O
which	O
URL	O
to	O
retrieve	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
filename	O
to	O
create	O
on	O
the	O
Unix	B-Application
host	O
when	O
the	O
data	O
was	O
finally	O
retrieved	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
retrieval	O
,	O
from	O
web	O
page	O
host	O
to	O
Unix	B-Application
host	O
,	O
was	O
usually	O
very	O
fast	O
,	O
since	O
these	O
machines	O
were	O
connected	O
by	O
high	O
speed	O
communications	O
lines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
URL	O
contents	O
were	O
moved	O
to	O
the	O
Unix	B-Application
host	O
,	O
they	O
had	O
to	O
be	O
moved	O
down	O
to	O
the	O
PC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
done	O
by	O
executing	O
the	O
communications	O
program	O
zmodem	B-Device
(	O
sending	O
the	O
zmodem	B-Device
command	O
to	O
the	O
Unix	B-Application
command-line	O
)	O
and	O
then	O
instantly	O
placing	O
the	O
PC	O
into	O
receive	O
mode	O
.	O
</s>
