Browsers 7BrowsersA Variety ofBrowsersWeb Design in a Nutshell, eMatter EditionBrowserWatch
http://browserwatch.internet.com/
Which Browser
http://www.whichbrowser.com/
BrowserCaps
http://www.browsercaps.com/
Browser usage overview
As of this writing, the latest trend in browser usage is the closing of the gap
between Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer. In mid-1997, Netscape enjoyed
a comfortable 70–80% of the overall browser usage (according to statistic sites
such as those listed above). Currently, they are running neck-and-neck at about
40–45% of the market share each (all versions included). This may be due to the
fact that IE is so integrated with the Windows operating system that new users are
using Internet Explorer by default. It may also reflect consumer approval for the
quality of the IE software.
Another trend is that some webmasters are beginning to see WebTV hits increase.
Although WebTV is slowly gaining in popularity, it is not making a tremendous
impact on browser statistics. It may be difficult to track the WebTV browser,
because those users are not likely to ever visit browser statistics sites.
Browser statistics change much faster than book publishing schedules, so the
statistics presented below are not necessarily meaningful; however if you are
completely unfamiliar with the typical browser breakdowns, these statistics from
the BrowserWatch site should give you an idea of who’s using what—as of this
writing of course. These were the number presented on July 13, 1998. One
caution: some of the browsers in this chart are obscure or defunct; don’t expect to
see them in any sizable numbers.
As an indication of how statistics can vary, these statistics were taken the same day
from the Which Browser site.
Again, the most meaningful browser usage statistics will be those gathered from
your own site.
Netscape Navigator 52.00%
Microsoft Internet Explorer 35.80%
Cyberdog 2.42%
Ibrowse 1.37%
Opera-3.0 1.22%
Lynx 0.93%
Echo 0.68%
MacWeb 0.40%
NEWT ActiveX 0.30%
EmailSiphon 0.27%Netscape 47.08%
MSIE 51.80%
All Others 1.12%