I finally crashed Netscape so hard it turned my monitor blue

Back in '97 I downloaded a MIDI file that claimed to be a remix of the Zelda theme, but it was actually a virus that made Netscape freeze for 45 minutes straight. Every time I tried to close it, the modem dial tone just kept screeching at me. Has anyone else lost a whole afternoon to a single bad download?

2 comments

2 Comments

max80810d ago

oh come on, you're blaming the MIDI file? Netscape was crashing on its own by 1997 without any help from a virus. I swear people just wanted to blame their downloads instead of admitting the browser was a mess. Half the time it froze just trying to load a page with more than one image. I actually preferred those crashes because they forced me to go outside and touch grass for once. You guys had it easy with just blue screens - I remember when monitors would literally go black and start smoking if you pushed them too hard.

blake_martinez9d ago

Bro you're rewriting history hard right now. Netscape was a beast compared to what came before it. Mosaic crashed if you looked at it wrong and IE was literally just a reskinned Mosaic with less features. At least Netscape let you multitask tabs without your whole system taking a dirt nap. As for monitors smoking, that's a power supply issue not a software one and you know it. Blaming the browser for hardware problems is like blaming your car for a flat tire from a nail in the road. And honestly those download warnings were legit half the time since people were sharing actual viruses disguised as game saves and wallpapers. Your nostalgia goggles are foggy my guy.