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It was NCSA Mosaic that introduced the world to the Web. Since that time, the browser has become the principal software-based element in all the world's digital communications and transactions. It is the harbinger of a very powerful new class of dynamic language interpreters, making JavaScript the unlikely, though undisputed, vehicle for conveying interactive functionality. And for some manufacturers, it is the center of an apps ecosystem unto itself.

So the browser is in no danger of disappearing. But as the Web expands into a delivery mechanism for all forms of applications and services, is a stand-alone, exclusive window into the Web, complete with bookmarks and toolbars and add-ons, truly the most sensible usage model for a system that may yet embrace all of computing? This is a question Mozilla began asking last summer, and whose answer remains inconclusive.

From 1962 to present (no, that's not a typo), Vitamin T and An Event Apart have pulled together A Brief History of Web Standards. This infographic has a lot of interesting factoids and information about the evolution of the Web.

Now, when you're thinking "Web standards," you're probably thinking about things like HTML and CSS standards. The graphic touches on those, but pays particular attention to "standards" like typefaces and Godwin's Law (created in 1990, by the way).

It used to be called the Windows Professional Developers Conference. This year, it absorbs some of the functions of the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference, and some of the MIX Web developers' conference. The result is Build 2011 in Anaheim, which this year is Microsoft's premiere event for the next version of Windows for PCs and tablets. It begins Tuesday, but at this moment, exactly how it will pan out remains an artificial mystery.

The twentieth anniversary of the World Wide Web was celebrated worldwide a few days ago, which says something quite compelling about the state of the Web itself. As ReadWriteWeb Editor-in-Chief Richard MacManus personally verified two years ago by interviewing the guy who thought up the thing in the first place, the Web was established in 1989.

Historically, facts have been considered impediments to good stories. That is until recently, when not even the literary equivalent of blinking neon "FAIL" signs have stopped entirely apocryphal stories from propagating like mercury. Just ask any Internet Explorer user with a high IQ: When the opportunity for a juicy headline arises, such trifle things as facts, math, and common sense don't even amount to blips on the Web's radar.

Socialtext just released version 4.5.2 of its enterprise social media suite to hosted customers. The new version features several new features including an OpenSocial widget builder for both developers and non-developers, Google Analytics integration and a new HTML5-based mobile interface. The new features fit into the ongoing trends of putting development tools into the hands of non-developers, the increased role of analytics and HTML5 making its way into the enterprise.

A new report from Forrester analyst Jeffrey Hammond makes the case that Google's support for open-source is endearing the company to developers, who will in turn use Google's development tools to drive enterprise penetration. Hammond also argues that the company's appeal to end-users, through search and tools like Google Docs, will encourage IT managers to spring for Google's enterprise services like Google Apps.

The post-relational document database CouchDB reached its milestone 1.0 release today. Couchio, the corporate sponsor of the free open-source project, boasts that speeds in the new release are up 300% over version 0.11.0.