Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 was a graphical web browser, the first of its kind to offer Cascading Style Sheets support. The browser also introduced support for other programs such as Java applets, inline multimedia, ActiveX controls, and the Platform for Internet Content Selection system for content metadata. The browser was offered in a 16-bit and 32-bit version. It also offered Real Player, one of the first media players that was able to stream media over the Internet.

It was on this day, August 13, 1996, that Microsoft released its Internet Explorer 3 web browser and effectively began the “Browser War” with Netscape. Netscape Navigator was the most widely used web browser at the time, and Microsoft challenged its position by offering its product for free. Internet Explorer 3 was the first widely used browser, but its future versions fared much better in the market, and Internet Explorer 4 surpassed Netscape in terms of usage share.