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Explanation of Web Browser Popularity Statistics - Succeed in Web Design. Also refer to Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Mozilla, Netscape Navigator, Opera, Safari, speed, security, Ron Kurtus, School for Champions. Copyright © Restrictions
Web Browser Popularity Statistics
by Ron Kurtus (revised 22 August 2010)
Web designers must be aware of the differences in the appearance of their pages on the different Internet browsers. Issues include rendering speed, adherance to Internet standards and consistency in dealing with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
Internet Explorer and Firefox are presently the most popular web browsers. Chrome has been increasing in popularity. Internet Explorer has had known issues with uploading pages slowly and problems with CSS.
Questions you may have include:
- What are the statistics for Internet Explorer?
- What are the statistics for Firefox?
- What about the other browsers?
This lesson will answer those questions. There is a mini-quiz near the end of the lesson.
Internet Explorer statistics
Internet Explorer (IE) is the most popular browser, but it has lost some ground to Firefox. As of July 2010, the populariy of IE—averaged from several sources—is:
52.7%
W3Schools.com provides a lower percentage but also gives the popularity per version:
IE 8 = 15.6%
IE 7 = 7.6%
IE 6 = 7.2%
When designing web pages in CSS, it is still necessary to know of the IE quirks and emply work-arounds. This is espcially true since more than half of the people—espcially the less sophisticated users—use IE.
Firefox statistics
Usage of the Firefox browser is increasing. They continualy update the browser online, so there aren't specific versions.. As of July 2010, the percentage of people using Firefox are:
30.7%
Speed, security and added features have resulted in increasing popularity of Firefox. Also, some use it simply in protest of Microsoft.
Other browser statistics
Google Chrome, Safari and Opera browsers are used by a small percentage of people. use of Chrome has been moving up rapidly. Safari is Apple Computer's browser. Use of Safari and Opera has been dropping.
Chrome = 16.7%
Safari = 3.4%
Opera = 2.3%
Chrome is the fastest of all browsers. Many web designers often don't bother checking the capabilities of these browsers.
Summary
Websites should be designed for Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers. Since the number of people using the other browsers is negligible, it is often not worth the effort to be concerned about them.
Provide an excellent product for your customers
Resources
The following resources provide information on this subject:
Websites
Usage share of web browsers - Wikipedia - averages several sources
Browser Statistics - NetMarketSahre
Top Five Browsers - StatCounter
Web Browser Market Share - StatOwl
Web browsers (Global marketshare) - Clicky
Books
Top-rated
books on Website Design
Mini-quiz to check your understanding
If you got all three correct, you are on your way to becoming a Champion in Web Design. If you had problems, you had better look over the material again.
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Web Browser Popularity Statistics