Browser Statistics
What is the trend in browser usage, operating systems and screen resolution?
Web Statistics and Trends
Statistics are important information. What you can read from the statistics below is that Internet Explorer 6 is the most common browser, XP is the most dominating operating system, and most users are using a display with 1024x768 pixels or more, with a color depth of at least 65K colors.
Browser Statistics Month by Month
| 2006 | IE7 | IE6 | IE5 | Ffox | Moz | N | O |
| July | 1.9% | 57.8% | 4.2% | 25.0% | 2.2% | 0.4% | 1.4% |
| June | 1.6% | 58.2% | 4.3% | 24.9% | 2.2% | 0.3% | 1.4% |
| May | 1.1% | 57.4% | 4.5% | 25.7% | 2.3% | 0.3% | 1.5% |
| April | 0.7% | 58.0% | 5.0% | 25.2% | 2.5% | 0.4% | 1.5% |
| March | 0.6% | 58.8% | 5.3% | 24.5% | 2.4% | 0.5% | 1.5% |
| February | 0.5% | 59.5% | 5.7% | 25.1% | 2.9% | 0.4% | 1.5% |
| January | 0.2% | 60.3% | 5.5% | 25.0% | 3.1% | 0.5% | 1.6% |
| 2005 | IE6 | IE5 | Ffox | Moz | N7 | O8 | O7 |
| December | 61.5% | 6.5% | 24.0% | 2.7% | 0.4% | 1.3% | 0.2% |
| November | 62.7% | 6.2% | 23.6% | 2.8% | 0.4% | 1.3% | 0.2% |
| October | 67.5% | 6.0% | 19.6% | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1.2% | 0.2% |
| September | 69.8% | 5.7% | 18.0% | 2.5% | 0.4% | 1.0% | 0.2% |
| August | 68.4% | 6.3% | 18.9% | 2.4% | 0.4% | 0.8% | 0.3% |
| July | 67.9% | 5.9% | 19.8% | 2.6% | 0.5% | 0.8% | 0.4% |
| June | 65.0% | 6.8% | 20.7% | 2.9% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.5% |
| May | 64.8% | 6.8% | 21.0% | 3.1% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.6% |
| April | 63.5% | 7.9% | 20.9% | 3.1% | 0.9% | 0.4% | 1.0% |
| March | 63.6% | 8.9% | 18.9% | 3.3% | 1.0% | 0.3% | 1.6% |
| February | 63.9% | 9.5% | 17.9% | 3.3% | 1.0% | 1.7% | |
| January | 64.8% | 9.7% | 16.6% | 3.4% | 1.1% | 1.9% | |
| 2004 | IE6 | IE5 | Moz | N3 | N7 | N4 | O7 |
| December | 65.5% | 9.9% | 17.0% | 0.2% | 1.2% | 0.2% | 1.8% |
| November | 66.0% | 10.2% | 16.5% | 0.2% | 1.2% | 0.3% | 1.6% |
| October | 67.3% | 10.8% | 14.7% | 0.3% | 1.3% | 0.3% | 1.6% |
| September | 67.8% | 11.2% | 13.7% | 0.3% | 1.4% | 0.3% | 1.7% |
| August | 67.0% | 13.0% | 12.7% | 0.4% | 1.4% | 0.4% | 1.6% |
| July | 67.2% | 13.2% | 12.6% | 0.4% | 1.4% | 0.4% | 1.6% |
| June | 67.6% | 13.2% | 12.2% | 0.5% | 1.4% | 0.4% | 1.6% |
| May | 68.1% | 13.8% | 9.5% | 0.6% | 1.4% | 0.4% | 1.6% |
| April | 68.2% | 14.0% | 8.5% | 0.8% | 1.4% | 0.6% | 1.4% |
| March | 68.2% | 14.6% | 7.9% | 0.8% | 1.4% | 0.6% | 1.4% |
| February | 68.3% | 15.2% | 7.3% | 0.6% | 1.5% | 0.4% | 1.5% |
| January | 68.9% | 15.8% | 5.5% | 0.4% | 1.5% | 0.5% | 1.5% |
| 2003 | IE6 | IE5 | Moz | N3 | N7 | N4 | O7 |
| November | 71.2% | 13.7% | 7.2% | 0.5% | 1.6% | 0.5% | 1.9% |
| September | 69.7% | 16.9% | 6.2% | 0.6% | 1.5% | 0.6% | 1.8% |
| July | 66.9% | 20.3% | 5.7% | 0.6% | 1.5% | 0.6% | 1.7% |
| May | 65.0% | 22.7% | 4.6% | 1.0% | 1.4% | 0.9% | 1.4% |
| March | 63.4% | 24.6% | 4.2% | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1.1% | 1.2% |
| January | 55.3% | 29.3% | 4.0% | 1.2% | 1.1% | 1.7% | |
| 2002 | IE6 | IE5 | AOL | N3 | N5 | N4 | IE4 |
| November | 53.5% | 29.9% | 5.2% | 1.1% | 4.9% | 2.0% | |
| September | 49.1% | 34.4% | 4.5% | 1.3% | 4.5% | 2.2% | |
| July | 44.4% | 40.1% | 3.5% | 1.2% | 3.5% | 2.6% | 0.5% |
| May | 40.7% | 46.0% | 2.8% | 1.2% | 2.7% | 3.4% | 0.7% |
| March | 36.7% | 49.4% | 3.0% | 1.2% | 2.4% | 4.1% | 0.7% |
| January | 30.1% | 55.7% | 2.8% | 1.3% | 2.2% | 4.4% | 1.0% |
| IE | Internet Explorer |
| Ffox | Firefox (identified as Mozilla before 2005) |
| Moz | Mozilla |
| O | Opera |
| N | Netscape |
| AOL | America Online (based on both Internet Explorer and Mozilla) |
OS Platform Statistics
Windows XP is the most popular operating system. The windows family counts for nearly 90%:
| 2006 | WinXP | W2000 | Win98 | WinNT | W2003 | Linux | Mac |
| July | 74.3% | 10.1% | 1.5% | 0.3% | 2.0% | 3.4% | 3.6% |
| June | 74.1% | 10.6% | 1.6% | 0.3% | 2.0% | 3.4% | 3.6% |
| May | 74.2% | 10.7% | 1.6% | 0.2% | 2.0% | 3.4% | 3.6% |
| April | 74.0% | 11.2% | 1.8% | 0.3% | 1.9% | 3.3% | 3.6% |
| March | 72.9% | 11.9% | 2.0% | 0.3% | 1.8% | 3.4% | 3.5% |
| February | 73.3% | 12.3% | 2.1% | 0.3% | 1.8% | 3.4% | 3.6% |
| January | 72.3% | 13.1% | 2.4% | 0.3% | 1.7% | 3.3% | 3.5% |
| 2005 | WinXP | W2000 | Win98 | WinNT | W2003 | Linux | Mac |
| December | 71.6% | 13.6% | 2.6% | 0.3% | 1.7% | 3.2% | 3.3% |
| November | 71.0% | 14.6% | 2.7% | 0.4% | 1.7% | 3.3% | 3.3% |
| October | 70.2% | 15.0% | 2.8% | 0.4% | 1.6% | 3.3% | 3.2% |
| September | 69.2% | 15.8% | 3.2% | 0.5% | 1.7% | 3.3% | 3.1% |
| August | 66.3% | 17.5% | 3.2% | 0.6% | 1.7% | 3.3% | 2.9% |
| July | 65.3% | 17.7% | 3.9% | 0.6% | 1.6% | 3.5% | 3.0% |
| June | 64.9% | 19.1% | 3.6% | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3.5% | 3.0% |
| May | 64.5% | 19.4% | 3.9% | 0.8% | 1.4% | 3.3% | 2.9% |
| April | 64.0% | 19.7% | 4.1% | 0.8% | 1.4% | 3.3% | 2.9% |
| March | 63.1% | 20.2% | 4.7% | 0.9% | 1.4% | 3.2% | 3.0% |
| February | 62.0% | 21.1% | 5.1% | 0.9% | 1.3% | 3.2% | 2.9% |
| January | 61.3% | 21.6% | 5.3% | 1.0% | 1.2% | 3.2% | 2.8% |
| 2004 | WinXP | W2000 | Win98 | WinNT | Win95 | Linux | Mac |
| December | 59.8% | 23.5% | 5.4% | 1.1% | 0.1% | 3.1% | 2.7% |
| November | 59.1% | 23.7% | 5.6% | 1.2% | 0.1% | 3.1% | 2.7% |
| October | 57.8% | 25.0% | 6.0% | 1.3% | 0.2% | 3.1% | 2.6% |
| September | 55.9% | 26.2% | 6.4% | 1.5% | 0.2% | 3.1% | 2.6% |
| August | 53.2% | 28.1% | 7.0% | 1.8% | 0.2% | 3.0% | 2.5% |
| July | 52.5% | 28.4% | 7.5% | 1.9% | 0.2% | 3.1% | 2.4% |
| June | 51.2% | 29.6% | 8.0% | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2.9% | 2.5% |
| May | 51.0% | 29.6% | 8.2% | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2.9% | 2.5% |
| April | 49.7% | 30.2% | 8.7% | 2.2% | 0.3% | 2.7% | 2.5% |
| March | 48.0% | 31.1% | 9.4% | 2.4% | 0.4% | 2.6% | 2.4% |
| February | 46.0% | 32.8% | 9.5% | 2.9% | 0.4% | 2.6% | 2.5% |
| January | 44.1% | 33.6% | 10.4% | 3.0% | 0.4% | 2.7% | 2.4% |
| 2003 | WinXP | W2000 | Win98 | WinNT | Win95 | Linux | Mac |
| December | 43.6% | 35.2% | 10.5% | 3.4% | 0.4% | 2.7% | 2.3% |
| November | 42.6% | 36.3% | 10.9% | 3.5% | 0.4% | 2.6% | 2.2% |
| October | 39.4% | 37.8% | 11.5% | 4.0% | 0.5% | 2.5% | 2.1% |
| September | 38.0% | 37.9% | 12.1% | 4.1% | 0.5% | 2.4% | 2.0% |
| August | 36.3% | 39.9% | 12.6% | 4.6% | 0.5% | 2.4% | 2.0% |
| July | 33.9% | 40.6% | 12.6% | 5.3% | 0.6% | 2.3% | 1.9% |
| June | 32.8% | 40.4% | 13.4% | 5.4% | 0.6% | 2.3% | 1.8% |
| May | 31.4% | 41.0% | 13.9% | 5.8% | 0.7% | 2.2% | 1.8% |
| April | 30.8% | 40.9% | 14.7% | 6.0% | 0.7% | 2.1% | 1.8% |
| March | 29.1% | 41.9% | 14.8% | 6.6% | 0.8% | 2.2% | 1.8% |
Platforms that count for less than 0.5% are not listed.
Display Resolution
The current trend is that more and more computers are using a screen size of 1024x768 pixels or more:
| 2006 | Higher | 1024x768 | 800x600 | 640x480 | Unknown |
| January | 17% | 57% | 20% | 0% | 6% |
| 2005 | |||||
| July | 14% | 55% | 25% | 0% | 6% |
| January | 12% | 53% | 30% | 0% | 5% |
| 2004 | |||||
| July | 10% | 50% | 35% | 1% | 4% |
| January | 10% | 47% | 37% | 1% | 5% |
| 2003 | |||||
| July | 8% | 43% | 44% | 2% | 5% |
| January | 6% | 40% | 47% | 2% | 5% |
| 2002 | |||||
| October | 6% | 38% | 49% | 2% | 5% |
Web developers be aware: Many users still have only 800x600 display screens.
Color Depth
The current trend is that most computers use 24 or 32 bits hardware to display 16,777,216 different colors:
Older computers and laptops often use 16 bits display hardware. This gives a maximum of 65,536 different colors.
Handheld computers (and very old computers) often use 8 bits color hardware. This gives a maximum of 256 colors.
| 2006 | 16,777,216 | 65,536 | 256 |
| January | 81% | 16% | 3% |
| 2005 | |||
| July | 77% | 20% | 3% |
| January | 72% | 25% | 3% |
| 2004 | |||
| July | 69% | 28% | 3% |
| January | 65% | 31% | 4% |
| 2003 | |||
| July | 55% | 40% | 5% |
| January | 51% | 44% | 5% |
| 2002 | |||
| October | 49% | 46% | 5% |
JavaScript Statistics
There are no absolute trends about the use of JavaScript. Some users have scripting turned off. Some browsers don't support scripting:
| 2006 | JavaScript On | JavaScript Off |
| January | 90% | 10% |
| 2005 | ||
| July | 90% | 10% |
| January | 89% | 11% |
| 2004 | ||
| July | 90% | 10% |
| January | 92% | 8% |
| 2003 | ||
| July | 89% | 11% |
| January | 89% | 11% |
| 2002 | ||
| October | 88% | 12% |
source: W3C
