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
| 2007 | IE7 | IE6 | IE5 | Fx | Moz | S | O |
| March | 18.0% | 38.7% | 2.0% | 31.8% | 1.3% | 1.7% | 1.6% |
| February | 16.4% | 39.8% | 2.5% | 31.2% | 1.4% | 1.7% | 1.5% |
| January | 13.3% | 42.3% | 3.0% | 31.0% | 1.5% | 1.7% | 1.5% |
| 2006 | IE7 | IE6 | IE5 | Fx | Moz | N7/8 | O |
| December | 10.7% | 45.3% | 3.4% | 30.3% | 2.6% | 0.2% | 1.5% |
| November | 7.1% | 49.9% | 3.6% | 29.9% | 2.5% | 0.2% | 1.5% |
| October | 3.1% | 54.5% | 3.8% | 28.8% | 2.4% | 0.3% | 1.4% |
| September | 2.5% | 55.6% | 4.0% | 27.3% | 2.3% | 0.4% | 1.6% |
| August | 2.0% | 56.2% | 4.1% | 27.1% | 2.3% | 0.3% | 1.6% |
| July | 1.9% | 56.3% | 4.2% | 25.5% | 2.3% | 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 | Fx | 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 |
| Fx | Firefox (identified as Mozilla before 2005) |
| Moz | The Mozilla Suite (Safari, Konqueror, Gecko, Netscape) |
| S | Safari (identified as Mozilla before 2007) |
| O | Opera |
| N | Netscape (identified as Mozilla after 2006) |
| AOL | America Online (based on both Internet Explorer and Mozilla) |
Browsers that count for less than 0.5% are not listed.
W3Schools is a website for people with an interest for web technologies. These people are more interested in using alternative browsers than the average user. The average user tends to use Internet Explorer, since it comes preinstalled with Windows. Most do not seek out other browsers.
These facts indicate that the browser figures above are not 100% realistic. Other web sites have statistics showing that Internet Explorer is used by at least 80% of the users.
Anyway, our data, collected from W3Schools' log-files, over a five year period, clearly shows the long and medium-term trends.
OS Platform Statistics
Windows XP is the most popular operating system. The windows family counts for nearly 90%:
| 2007 | WinXP | W2000 | Win98 | Vista | W2003 | Linux | Mac |
| March | 76.7% | 7.2% | 0.8% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 3.4% | 3.6% |
| February | 76.1% | 7.4% | 0.8% | 1.2% | 1.9% | 3.5% | 3.8% |
| January | 76.1% | 7.7% | 0.9% | 0.6% | 1.9% | 3.6% | 3.8% |
| 2006 | WinXP | W2000 | Win98 | WinNT | W2003 | Linux | Mac |
| December | 75.7% | 7.9% | 0.9% | 0.2% | 1.9% | 3.6% | 3.8% |
| November | 74.9% | 8.0% | 1.0% | 0.3% | 1.9% | 3.5% | 3.6% |
| October | 74.6% | 8.9% | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2.0% | 3.5% | 3.6% |
| September | 74.6% | 9.2% | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2.0% | 3.5% | 3.6% |
| August | 74.4% | 10.1% | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2.1% | 3.5% | 3.6% |
| 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:
| 2007 | Higher | 1024x768 | 800x600 | 640x480 | Unknown |
| January | 26% | 54% | 14% | 0% | 6% |
| 2006 | |||||
| July | 19% | 58% | 17% | 0% | 6% |
| 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.
| 2007 | 16,777,216 | 65,536 | 256 |
| January | 86% | 11% | 2% |
| 2006 | |||
| July | 85% | 13% | 2% |
| 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:
| 2007 | JavaScript On | JavaScript Off |
| January | 94% | 6% |
| 2006 | ||
| July | 92% | 8% |
| 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% |
Statistics Are Often Misleading
You cannot - as a web developer - rely only on statistics. Statistics can often be misleading.
Global averages may not always be relevant to your web site. Different sites attract different audiences. Some web sites attract professional developers using professional hardware, while other sites attract hobbyists using old low spec computers.
Also be aware that many statistics may have an incomplete or faulty browser detection. It is quite common by many web-stats report programs, not to detect the newest browsers.
(The statistics above are extracted from W3Schools' log-files, but we are also monitoring other sources around the Internet to assure the quality of these figures).
