web
Browser Market Share Update
03/01/09 10:44 Filed in: Browsers
Usage of Microsoft built browsers continues to decline according to Net Applications. Where once Microsoft browsers held a market share of well over 90%, contenders have eroded the share down to below 70% and there seems to be no stopping the slide, at this point.
What does this mean? Well…Microsoft browsers are still the big kid on the block. But, in spite of that many internet site and application developers are no longer tweaking their sites for what they see as a “non-standard” browser. Their opinion being based on Internet Explorer’s following many W3C standards, and instead implementing proprietary methods of viewing web sites and, when using their internet sites building tools, building the sites. So increasingly, web sites viewed in Internet Explorer (especially version 6) are showing pages that do not look as the site builder intended. This varies from small layout issues to the site being nearly unusable.
If you are building a web site, what should you do? First, take a look at your intended (or even unintended) audience. What browsers do your audience use? Do you need to have the site perform perfectly for every site? Or is there some level of functionality and appearance that is acceptable? If you choose the latter, let me suggest what has been done nearly since browsers were invented. Place a link to a browser that you would recommend the site be viewed with on your site. If the user cares, they’ll download and use an alternative browser. If they do not care, then you probably don’t have to worry about them either–provided your site is usable, for their purposes.
Should you decide to build a site that is perfect for every browser, you should know that that requires additional coding for site builder. In turn, that means a higher cost for you. The cost is not only for building the site, but very possibly for keeping it up to date with changes.
You can get further details on the browser market share percentages over at Macsimum News. It is a great site for keeping up-to-date on all things related to the products and services offered by Apple, Inc.
What does this mean? Well…Microsoft browsers are still the big kid on the block. But, in spite of that many internet site and application developers are no longer tweaking their sites for what they see as a “non-standard” browser. Their opinion being based on Internet Explorer’s following many W3C standards, and instead implementing proprietary methods of viewing web sites and, when using their internet sites building tools, building the sites. So increasingly, web sites viewed in Internet Explorer (especially version 6) are showing pages that do not look as the site builder intended. This varies from small layout issues to the site being nearly unusable.
If you are building a web site, what should you do? First, take a look at your intended (or even unintended) audience. What browsers do your audience use? Do you need to have the site perform perfectly for every site? Or is there some level of functionality and appearance that is acceptable? If you choose the latter, let me suggest what has been done nearly since browsers were invented. Place a link to a browser that you would recommend the site be viewed with on your site. If the user cares, they’ll download and use an alternative browser. If they do not care, then you probably don’t have to worry about them either–provided your site is usable, for their purposes.
Should you decide to build a site that is perfect for every browser, you should know that that requires additional coding for site builder. In turn, that means a higher cost for you. The cost is not only for building the site, but very possibly for keeping it up to date with changes.
You can get further details on the browser market share percentages over at Macsimum News. It is a great site for keeping up-to-date on all things related to the products and services offered by Apple, Inc.