Popular Browser Statistics
Published: December 17th, 2008
Posted by: Kevork Aghazarian
NOTE: These "most common browser" statistics will be updated periodically.
One of the most asked questions among web developers (and arguably the most dreaded) is "which browsers are the most commonly used today?" This question usually branches off directly to "which browsers should we code for?" And the nightmares begin from that point forward.
If you search google for the most common browsers, you'll find many websites showing off their visitor statistics, which usually means web developer communities are heavier in Firefox use while general websites are heavier in Internet Explorer use.
What we decided to do is post up our sites browser statistics as well as a few other websites that differ greatly in content and target audiences from one to the other (we wont share which sites those are). What we also want to do is accumulate statistics from other websites doing the same thing as us, and come up with a cumulative statistic for the most commonly used browsers today, and which browsers are the most important to code for and test in.
So let us start with the browser stats from our site and a select few other websites:
| Browser | Visits (%) |
|---|---|
| Firefox 1.x | 1.07 |
| Firefox 2.x | 14.3 |
| Firefox 3.x | 31.94 |
| IE 6 | 10.33 |
| IE 7 | 28.96 |
| IE 8 | 0.6 |
| Safari 1.x | 2.66 |
| Safari 3.x | 8.1 |
| Chrome 0.x | 1.07 |
| Opera 9.x | 0.68 |
| Mozilla 1.x | 0.04 |
| Mozilla 5.x | 0.08 |
| Konqueror 3.x | 0.04 |
| iPhone | 0.04 |
| iTouch | 0.04 |
| Blackberry | 0.04 |
Ok, and now a compilation of statistics from W3 Schools, Market Share and The Counter.
| Browser | Visits (%) |
|---|---|
| Firefox | 27.44 |
| Internet Explorer | 64.95 |
| Safari | 4.6 |
| Opera | 1.35 |
| Chrome | 1.65 |
So do these statistics help? Only a little really. What they show is that there is no definitive answer to which browser is more popular. The reason for this is that different websites have different audiences who use different browsers depending on what type of computer user they are. A gaming website might receive higher traffic from firefox users while Amazon.com might get a larger majority from internet explorer.
The most important thing to remember is that the two engines you should most definitely test in are Trident and Gecko. A general rule-of-thumb is that if a site performs well in both Trident and Gecko, then the remaining engines will also render that site properly (with minor differences from one browser to another).
It's Harder Than You Think
Building a website or web application today is very complex, and when it comes compatibility, the nightmare gets worse. Not only do we have to code websites to look and function the same in all browsers, but they must all look and function the same in all resolutions and even in all operating systems. Certain code will not execute properly in certain browser/OS configurations, some layouts break in certain browsers.
There are a few things to practice while building websites that can help you with making your website the most compatible. The most important thing to remember is that it is nearly impossible to have a website work on all configurations. Especially when you use web 2.0 technologies and advanced CSS techniques. It is important to have a website compatible on IE6 and IE7, as these two browsers are the most common, seeing as they are pre-installed on all Windows XP and Vista systems.
Firefox and other gecko browsers are growing in popularity and it is important for websites to work in the more recent versions of these browsers. Lenghty testing is recommended before releasing a website, and it is always recommended to test on different computers, with different setups and age.
Building websites to also work for mobile devices is almost impossible without heavy tweaking. In cases of sites like Facebook, you can build websites that detect mobile browsers and automatically lead a specific CSS file or redirect to a mobile friendly version of the website. It is important to keep these in mind when building a site for mobile devices: Most mobile browsers turn off the ability to see background images, which can disable navigation systems based on HTML and Javascript.
No mobile browsers as of 2008 support Flash including Apple's iPhone. The reason for this is the heavy burden placed on the battery to display flash websites. Heavy javascript use is not recommended as it tends to crash mobile browsers. It is generally not a major issue if a website is not mobile friendly, however as mobile devices become more important and more robust, it is important to keep cross-platform compatibility in mind.
Here is a list of current browsers being used around the world based on Trident, the engine that runs Internet Explorer. It is safe to say that if a website looks good in IE and atleast one other of the following browsers, then it does not need to be tested any further on Trident based browsers: AOL Explorer, Avant Browser, Bento Browser, Maxthon, Slim Browser, iRider, Smart Bro, UltraBrowser and Internet Explorer.
Here is a list of current browsers being used around the world based on Gecko, the engine that runs mozilla and firefox. It is safe to say that if a website looks good in FF and atleast one other of the following browsers, then it does not need to be tested any further on Gecko based browsers: Alefox, Beonex Communicator, Camino, DocZilla, Epiphany, Flock, Galeon, IceWeasel, K-Meleon, Kazehakase, ManyOne, Netscape, SeaMonkey, Skipstone, XeroBank Browser, Deepnet and Firefox.
Here is a list of current browsers being used around the world based on KHTML and WebKit, the engines that run Safari. It is safe to say that if a website looks good in Safari and atleast one other of the following browsers, then it does not need to be tested any further on KHTML and WebKit based browsers: iCab, Epiphany, Konqueror, Midori, OmniWeb, Skipstone, Shiira, Swift and Safari.
Opera is currently the only mainstream browser based on the Presto engine, which has been developed by Opera. For more information, please visit the Opera website. Sites should work well in this browser if they work well in Firefox and IE.