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In a year or so, this browser will have > 70% of the online browser market share.

I wouldn't bet on it, W3Schools' stats show that they're seeing IE having the lowest share of their traffic for over THREE YEARS - it's been dropping for the past five months.

(Quite where Safari goes in their figures, I'm not sure...)

Indeed. In fact to pad that out further, go here (or a similar stats site) and read off the percentage of users that you want to reach. http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp

If you're happy for just 61% to be able to use it, then just support I.E.6.
If you want to hit 85%, then you better support Firefox too.
If you want to bump that up to 90% support I.E.5 as well.
If you want to mop up some of the last 10%, then support Netscape, Opera etc.

There's a famous statistic on browser usage at w3schools.com, which is a decidedly pro-Microsoft site. They have Firefox at close to 25% in recent months, and they were quick to add a comment that this is probably not representative, because w3schools visitors are likely quite interested in the technology and likely to try out alternatives to the browser that comes installed with their operating system. Interesting, though, that most of those who do try it out seem to stick with it...

XP has 73% of the market. Up about 1% a month. W2K 15%. Down about 1% a month.

Mac and Linux 3%. Up 1% since 2003. Linux remaining pretty much where it was in July 20004.OS Platform Stats This is how the world looks to a developer. I'll leave it to your imagination to consider W2K's place in the home market.

It could just be that everyone uses Windows because it is not such a piece of crap after all:

Windows XP had 72% of the market in December. Up 1% from November 2005. Linux 3%. Up 1% since March 2003. OS Platform Stats

This from a developer's site that shows very good numbers for Firefox.

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 1.1//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/1.1/DTD/ svg11.dtd">
 
<svg width="100px" height="100px" version="1.1"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
 
<circle cx="50" cy="50" r="50" stroke="black"
stroke-width="1" fill="black"/>
 
</svg>

P.S.: there are little bit more Linux users than OS X users... Definitely in Europe and in global probably too: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp

[problem] can be mitigated by using max-width in ems on <p> elements in a user or author stylesheet

W3 Schools doesn't just include browser stats. They also track metrics regarding screen resolutions currently in use.

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp

MTW

Having learned the things I'm about to list in a less-preferred order, I recommend learning in this order. Some may overlap a bit.

First, learn a lot more about HTML than you know. Learn how to create the correct structure in your sites, and try to avoid excessive tags such as tables and divs. Use page headers (h1, h2,...) and paragraph (p) tags and avoid line breaks (br) unless you're actually attempting to do a line break and not just creating space. Here's a good article to read: http://brainstormsandraves.com/articles/semantics/ structure/.

Learn XHTML, and while you're at it, learn a little bit about basic XML and how it works. W3Schools has a good introduction. XHTML, XML. Don't go too far just yet with XML.

While you're learning XHTML, you'll inevitably encounter CSS. The W3C has plenty of links to articles. Make absolutely sure that you learn CSS, it is the pivot point of learning truly professional looking web development (even if you don't want to do it professionally).

Eventually, you'll need to either build your own system for a blog (as you mentioned you'd like to do), or use a blog management system such as Wordpress. If you choose to do it yourself, you need to learn 2 things. SQL and PHP. I recommend using MySQL (an implementation of SQL) because it's free. Most webhosts will support PHP and MySQL as well, so it's more widespread. W3Schools has the easiest introduction to SQL that I've seen. PHP.net has a complete PHP reference. Make sure to check out the mysql section, because that's what you'll be using most.

Scripting comes next. DevGuru has a pretty good, although incomplete reference for basic JavaScript. Basically, just do a search on Google for Javascript reference and you'll pretty much be able to find anything you want. As you get more advanced, try to understand more complex JavaScript such as the Prototype library, among others.

At this point, you'll have a firm grip on web development. Go back and refresh your skills with XHTML and CSS and you'll find out how much you still have left to learn.

There are many other things to learn about web development, specifically if you want to do web programming and application development. That's a whole other can of worms though.

Having learned the things I'm about to list in a less-preferred order, I recommend learning in this order. Some may overlap a bit.

First, learn a lot more about HTML than you know. Learn how to create the correct structure in your sites, and try to avoid excessive tags such as tables and divs. Use page headers (h1, h2,...) and paragraph (p) tags and avoid line breaks (br) unless you're actually attempting to do a line break and not just creating space. Here's a good article to read: http://brainstormsandraves.com/articles/semantics/ structure/.

Learn XHTML, and while you're at it, learn a little bit about basic XML and how it works. W3Schools has a good introduction. XHTML, XML. Don't go too far just yet with XML.

While you're learning XHTML, you'll inevitably encounter CSS. The W3C has plenty of links to articles. Make absolutely sure that you learn CSS, it is the pivot point of learning truly professional looking web development (even if you don't want to do it professionally).

Eventually, you'll need to either build your own system for a blog (as you mentioned you'd like to do), or use a blog management system such as Wordpress. If you choose to do it yourself, you need to learn 2 things. SQL and PHP. I recommend using MySQL (an implementation of SQL) because it's free. Most webhosts will support PHP and MySQL as well, so it's more widespread. W3Schools has the easiest introduction to SQL that I've seen. PHP.net has a complete PHP reference. Make sure to check out the mysql section, because that's what you'll be using most.

Scripting comes next. DevGuru has a pretty good, although incomplete reference for basic JavaScript. Basically, just do a search on Google for Javascript reference and you'll pretty much be able to find anything you want. As you get more advanced, try to understand more complex JavaScript such as the Prototype library, among others.

At this point, you'll have a firm grip on web development. Go back and refresh your skills with XHTML and CSS and you'll find out how much you still have left to learn.

There are many other things to learn about web development, specifically if you want to do web programming and application development. That's a whole other can of worms though.

Having learned the things I'm about to list in a less-preferred order, I recommend learning in this order. Some may overlap a bit.

First, learn a lot more about HTML than you know. Learn how to create the correct structure in your sites, and try to avoid excessive tags such as tables and divs. Use page headers (h1, h2,...) and paragraph (p) tags and avoid line breaks (br) unless you're actually attempting to do a line break and not just creating space. Here's a good article to read: http://brainstormsandraves.com/articles/semantics/ structure/.

Learn XHTML, and while you're at it, learn a little bit about basic XML and how it works. W3Schools has a good introduction. XHTML, XML. Don't go too far just yet with XML.

While you're learning XHTML, you'll inevitably encounter CSS. The W3C has plenty of links to articles. Make absolutely sure that you learn CSS, it is the pivot point of learning truly professional looking web development (even if you don't want to do it professionally).

Eventually, you'll need to either build your own system for a blog (as you mentioned you'd like to do), or use a blog management system such as Wordpress. If you choose to do it yourself, you need to learn 2 things. SQL and PHP. I recommend using MySQL (an implementation of SQL) because it's free. Most webhosts will support PHP and MySQL as well, so it's more widespread. W3Schools has the easiest introduction to SQL that I've seen. PHP.net has a complete PHP reference. Make sure to check out the mysql section, because that's what you'll be using most.

Scripting comes next. DevGuru has a pretty good, although incomplete reference for basic JavaScript. Basically, just do a search on Google for Javascript reference and you'll pretty much be able to find anything you want. As you get more advanced, try to understand more complex JavaScript such as the Prototype library, among others.

At this point, you'll have a firm grip on web development. Go back and refresh your skills with XHTML and CSS and you'll find out how much you still have left to learn.

There are many other things to learn about web development, specifically if you want to do web programming and application development. That's a whole other can of worms though.

I availed myself of Web Schools from W3C, which is pretty straight from the horses mouth

w3schools.com has nothing to do with the W3C, and from a quick glance at their tutorials, they get a number of things utterly wrong. I think it's pretty sleazy for them to take advantage of the W3C's name to get credibility they don't deserve, especially when they do it to foist a load of adverts and diploma offers on you.

Didn't you think that it was a bit odd to go to a "W3C" tutorial site and read all about code that only works in Internet Explorer? I'm not the only one who doesn't like it. Selected quotes:

"the site's content itself is highly IE centric (W3 my arse, IE-only apis and samples everywhere)."

"It took me a couple of months of correspondance to get them to make a few simple changes to give their SVG (and any SVG written by their readers) a half chance of working in Moz."

"w3schools is a very lacking site."

"They don't even test their simple code samples."

"What good is a school that teaches the wrong content?"

The boxes CSS tutorial you link to is fairly dated now, there have been quite a few improvements to it, and this set of techniques is probably the best approach these days.

Start Here

I was in your shoes, too --- just a smattering of HTML. I needed to create pages for my students and local sailing association, so I availed myself of Web Schools from W3C, which is pretty straight from the horses mouth, but no tricks or advanced techniques, and then studying layout like CSS Zen Garden and Boxes Tutorials. I tried to go XHTML 1.0 Strict, and validated my pages with the W3C validator, which gave useful feedback. (Don't look at my "home" page indicated by my ID --- it's just a stub). You're welcome to look at my amateurish example at my school home page. Good luck.

"Ajax, which consists of HTML, JavaScript technology, DHTML, and DOM, ..."

Comparing that to the description of DHTML itself at w3schools:

"To most people DHTML means a combination of HTML, Style Sheets and JavaScript."

DHTML also seems to involve a fair amount of DOM. So what is new about AJAX? Is it just the addition of XMLHttpRequest? And... didn't Microsoft invent that?

OS Platform Stats October 2005:

Windows XP and Win.NET 72% Up 2% from September 05
Linux 3% Up 1% from March 03

This is how the world looks to a web developer. I'll leave it to your imagination where Microsoft stands in the home market.

you can pirate Windows and run it on a cheap PC if you need to

or you can buy a brand new Celeron PC with a 17" CRT, XP Home and Word Perfect from Dell for $250 plus shipping: Basic Desktops

OS Platform Statistics October 2005:

Windows XP and WIN.NET 72% Up 2% from September 05
Linux 3% Up 1% from March 03

the third party products available for..Linux will explode which will in turn have users demanding to run something other than Windows

The reality is that when an open source project moves beyond the hobbyist stage it is generally ported to Windows or is developed as a native Windows app. Most Active Projects

Both major desktop OSes? Shouldn't that mean the top two, not the number one and number three?

I didn't know ANY javascript before 48 hours ago, right now I am writing ajax for production use. You dont need to use/understand XML to use ajax, and javascript is simple as fuck to use. I assume you already know html, so really, stop bitching, start reading.

http://www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AJAX

One way to start programming is by using something you are familiar with - your web browser. Most all browsers have a Javascript implementation (be aware of MS's JScript and VBScript with proprietary functions though) which you can use to begin learning the basics of input and data manipulation. Might I recommend Firefox for its nifty little JS console.

Sure, buttons and text boxes for input aren't the total representation of data input/manipulation, but like I said, its the basics. You only need to know what a variable is, and most functions offer decent interoperability with numbers and strings.

As well, you learn the C-Type syntax and get to do some cool stuff without having to download compilers and IDE's - a text editor and a JS-enabled browser is all you need. Once you do feel quite comfortable with the concepts, you can use your knowledge of the C-Type syntax to ease the transition into other C-Type languages - C/C++/C#, Java, and a whole lot more.

Recommended links:
Firefox - http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox
JS Tutorial - http://www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp

Have fun!

1. Good browser statistics are hard to come by.
2. Smart people use firefox.

Firefox has been on a precipitous decline at w3schools.com. For each of the last 4 months Firefox has lost user share, while IE has risen. In fact, IE is the only browser with a rising share over the last 4 months.
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp

May 2005 ===> Sept 2005
IE 5 and 6: 71.6% ===> 75.5%
Firefox: 21.0% ===> 18.0%
Mozilla: 3.1% ===> 2.5%
Netscape 0.7% ===> 0.4%
Opera 7 and 8: 1.3% ===> 1.2%

How do you explain numbers like these? OS Platform Stats: XP with a 70% share, up 40% from March 2003. Linux and OSX at 3% each, no change.

Firefox's userbase has declined each month since May, while IE has risen. http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp

Well the good news is that Linux has gained a whopping 1% market share in 2 and a half years. :)

Keep pushing people and they will try something else, look at Firefox

Firefox's userbase has declined each month since May, while IE has risen.
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp

Mozilla and Netscape also declined during the same time period. (Opera remains unchanged, just people switching from Opera7 to Opera 8).

This is a what a web developer is likely to see: OS Platform State (Septenber 2005. The Windows family with a 90% share.

Real-life counter-argument:

From time to time, I have to surf the web via my PSP.

Yahoo Mail does not work with my PSP.
GMail does, since it gracefully degrades if you don't have JavaScript.

Despite my preference for my yahoo account (Had it forever), Google now gets my business.

Consider this: With tools for the disabled, those who turn JavaScript off, and lightweight clients, about 10% of the surfing world is incapable/unwilling to use JavaScript. If I were a business, I wouldn't want to turn away 10% of my clientelle. Don't believe that the numbers are that high?

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp

~D

the talking ad on w3schools.com: a flash ad that when you mouse-over it (even if another non-browser window is on top) it will playback a Mac voice saying "PLEASE TYPE YOUR MESSAGE IN THE TEXT BOX AND LET ME SAY IT". Grrr.

http://www.w3schools.com/banners/bannerframe.asp?a dpartner=oddcast . Enjoy

ECMA-262 (ECMAScript Language Specification).

The XMLHttpRequest class that fashionable web applications use is not a standard, but it is pretty simple; it looks like the only difference between using it in IE and Mozilla/KHTML is how you create an instance of it.

Yeah, but how do you know that WebSideStory's numbers aren't taken from sites that attract mostly Windows-only users? For all we know, some of the sites that they monitor could exclude all non-IE browsers.

That seems highly unlikely, given that many of WSS's customers are large global corporations that have big, professionally-created websites- Disney, Best Buy, Fox News, Bank of America, Freddie Mac- a wide range of clients in a variety of sectors. Surely some of their sites exclude non-IE browsers, but they are unlikely to make a significant difference in WSS's numbers.

But my point was not that WebSideStory's numbers are accurate, although by the fact that it is their business to know this kind of stuff and they seem to have been around a while I tend to believe them, but merely that the visitors to your site are not likely to be anywhere near a representative sample of the internet at large. There's lots of info out there that seems to corroborate WSS's numbers. Your little window on the world is nowhere near the big picture that WSS is seeing.

Google used to list this stuff in their zeitgeist, but they seem to have stopped that. Too bad...

I was reviewing usage stats yesterday and I noticed the same 'leveling off', but with W3schools it's 18%, not 7%.

Firefox exploded from 5% in January 04 to 21% in May 05. Now it's crept back down a bit off that high.

Don't really have a reason to offer, but here's the stats:

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp

Yup, far far more than 1%. You are correct. In fact, Linux has had a higher percentage than Mac users for as long as the statistics have been tracked by w3schools: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp I don't quite understand how being more user friendly would cause Linux numbers to drop, however, which is what you seem to be suggesting. One would think that if you are going to continue to paste this every time there is an article remotely related to any operating system that you would fact check and edit.

Linux on the desktop is way less common than Mac. Mac is about 3-5% of the desktop market, Linux is about .25%. That is 6-10 times less, and I'll bet a good portion of those desktops are work machines (I know departments at my company that use Linux for desktops instead of Windows).

Where do you get your numbers? From Microsoft?

In late 2003, Linux had 2.8% desktop market share to the Mac's 2.9% according to IDC. (ref: http://insight.zdnet.co.uk/software/linuxunix/0,39 020472,39118695,00.htm

According to w3schools.com, 3.3% of browsers are reporting an operating system of Linux, compared to 3.1% reporting Mac OS. (ref: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp).

Personally I think XML data islands are rather elegant, and they've been around since long before Firefox/Mozilla was on the average web developers horizon.

Instead, for simple data display, we're stuck with XMLHTTPRequest object overkill, or slightly more elegantly, using javascript to hotswap in <script> elements which does the job with fewer lines of code cleanly enough.

W3Schools has Windows, all flavors, at 90%, Mac and Linux at 3% each. OS Platform Stats. (august 2005) XP's share has grown over 30% since the spring of 2003, Linux only 1%.

Desktop numbers are highly biased againt linux simply because a) Most linux machines were previously windows, and b) Windows machines tend to be replaced more often, i.e. if i buy a windows computer today and another one in 2 years, both will be considered to be active and the nuber will be twice what it really is.

Chances are good, both Windows PCs will be in use five years from now. If I have four networked at home and sixteen at work, should only one be counted?

I see the Aug 2005 browser stats at http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp also show Firefox losing support for the 3rd straight month, including 0.9% percentage points each of the last two months. That loss in browsershare went to IE.

here's a good site to check out: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp

I look at w3school's OS stats and what I see is steady growth in XP's share and Linux treading water.

Linux users already outnumber Mac users. Linux is growing fast, and estimates are hard to pin down of the shear size of the user base since there are no receipts or other records for most of us. My computer came with Windows installed originally, even though I have never used Windows on it or any other machine in over a decade. As far as the sales records go, I am a Microsoft customer. I have purchased CDs for any distro, I have always downloaded CD (and long ago floppy) images. Since Google's Zeitgeist no longer lists OS and browser statistics, here's a good site to check out: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp

Ask for more data and ye shall recieve:
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp

I looked, but did not see, any analysis of the noise in the data and methodology. Furthermore, if you look at the data for a single browser whose market share is relatively stable, the month to month fluctuations do not change by more than 0.1 or 0.2%.

So the original question stands : how do we know that 0.64% is "in the noise" as claimed by Hemos?

Ask for more data and ye shall recieve:
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp

W3Schools' statistics (April-August 2005) seemed to forecast this slight IE rise/Firefox decline. Maybe not representative of the whole Web, but it's worth seeing.

I wonder how much MS' "Honeymonkeys" and cross-browser "security issues" can further help IE...

As I included in the version of this I submitted, this isn't the only study reporting a downturn.

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp

That study shows not only a one-month loss, but a 3-month downtrend for the first time ever. For the first time going all the way back to 2002 even. And the actual Mozilla browser is showing the same downtrend as well.

It may be backlash for the security promises Firefox couldn't meet. It may be that its shinyness has worn off. It may be people are just sick of the thing.

It's curious though and should probably concern the Firefox/Mozilla camp. When you're losing market share to a competitor that hasn't updated in recent memory, there's a definite problem...

One more, a good resource not only for CSS but many different web technologies, mostly for beginners:

W3 schools (Warning: Has a popup, but it's worth it)

Of course, any Apple Macintosh, GNU/Linux, and BSD user will have a problem with a only-MSIE policy, so I think it would be a good idea to inform them about this issue.

Indeed, and a good reference site always helps

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp/ (towards bottom)

the numbers speak for themselves, and until that changes, M$ still pWnS the world

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.a sp

Can anyone tell me why Microsoft's "XML Data Islands" didn't take off in the mainstream given that IE has had a 90% browser share? For external XML they are simple and neat and don't require any javascript whatsoever for basic fetch-and-display use (but you can enhance functionality using javascript).

Here's a demo (use IE5 or later). I figure they must be in use somewhere because there's even a Mozilla article on getting them working in Mozilla.

Can anyone tell me why Microsoft's "XML Data Islands" didn't take off in the mainstream given that IE has had a 90% browser share? For external XML they are simple and neat and don't require any javascript whatsoever for basic fetch-and-display use (but you can enhance functionality using javascript).

Here's a demo (use IE5 or later). I figure they must be in use somewhere because there's even a Mozilla article on getting them working in Mozilla.