Web Design in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Browser Usage Trends

What the statistics above do not show us are some important browser developments over time. The most drastic trend, of course, is Microsoft’s complete domination of the browser arena. In mid-1997, Netscape Navigator enjoyed a comfortable 70 to 80% of overall browser usage (according to statistic sites such as those listed earlier); by 1998, that share was down to 50%. Now, all versions combined make up just 1%.

It seemed Internet Explorer was unstoppable, that was until 2005, when it suffered its first drop in browser usage to Mozilla’s free Firefox browser. There was a grass-roots campaign to promote Firefox (http://www.spreadfirefox.com) as an alternative browser to people fed up with IE’s security holes. Firefox usage quickly expanded to 5 to 10% of all browser usage (depending on whose stats you use). As of this writing, its rise is slowing. Even so, it has caused Microsoft to recognize the need to improve its security and to continue development of a standalone browser application. Microsoft has plans to integrate web browsing functions so fully into its operating system that browser software as we know it may be obsolete.