I prefixed this article with the words ‘ Great Expectations’ as this is generally what is expected from web developers. We have to create experiences that brings users back and at the same time we have to cater to all of the variations of user agents that exists and is in active use. This article deals with the last point, user agents in active use. Where do we draw the line in the sand and more importantly, how do we educate our clients.

Before I go any further on this topic I have to note, I do not have the answer, I merely have my believe and I am writing this article to learn how other web developers around the world is handling this situation. When we simply look at the big five, we have Chrome, Opera, Firefox, IE and Safari and within these, except maybe Chrome, we have a multitude of versions.

Some of these browser versions was released along with their OS, especially on Mac, and will no longer run on newer versions of the OS. Even when they do run on the new OS they use the rendering engine active inside the current OS. This is all good, and for us as developers we can have valid reasons why certain browsers and versions has become obsolete, others are less important and why progressive enhancement is the way forward.

Before I share what I believe in terms of browser support, let’s look at some stats.

Global Stats June 9, 2009 – July 10, 2010

Looking at the above Internet Explorer has a downward trajectory over the last year but it is still the most used browser. But knowing this alone does not tell us much, we need to get version specific:

Global Stats – By Version – June 9, 2009 – July 10, 2010

The above chart gives us a much clearer indication of the lay of the land. Internet Explorer 8 is growing rapidly while IE7 and 6 are on a strong decline. As you can see, Chrome has now overtaken IE6 and I am sure that the decline of Internet Explorer 6 is going to become even more rapid. Another aspect that becomes clear looking at the stats is that as new versions of Firefox gets released the new version is rapidly adopted and the previous versions decline in use rapidly.

Looking At Firefox 3.0 at the beginning of this segment it had a 27.76% usage and at the end of the period it declined to 2.88% while Firefox 3.6 went from nothing to 21.58% completely overshadowing the other versions. To complete our look at the browser trends we need to look at the versions used in specific demographics as this becomes very important when deciding on support. Let start with Europe:

Global Stats – By Version – Europe June 9, 2009 – July 10, 2010

In Europe, Firefox particularly, but also Chrome has enjoyed a huge uptake with Firefox being the leading browser in Europe. We can also here clearly see the same trend as we saw Globally, and that is that as a new version of Firefox is released, the older version decline rapidly while the latest version gains rapidly in usage. IE8  is still widely used with IE7 declining and IE6 almost dropping of the chart.

Global Stats – By Version – North America June 9, 2009 – July 10, 2010

I have to admit looking at the North American stats was surprising but, then we have to realize that Mexico as well as Canada forms part of these stats and these are therefore not U.S. specific. The clear front runner here is Internet Explorer 8, while Firefox has gained in popularity. Chrome is showing the same growth as with all of the previous statistics. One interesting one to note here is the growth of the Safari browser, specifically here Safari 5,  over especially over the last two months.

Global Stats – By Version – Oceania June 9, 2009 – July 10, 2010

These stats are real interesting with four clear forerunners being, Internet Explorer 8 and 7, Firefox and Chrome. Safari also shows the same growth as in North America and while IE6 has not really moved much, the movement there was is a decline, it has not been used that much at all during this time period. So clearly IE6 has not been a popular browser in the Oceania region for some time, which is good news.

Global Stats – By Version – Asia June 9, 2009 – July 10, 2010

I must say I was really surprised by the stats for Asia. Right up until April 2010 IE6 was the most used browser in Asia. But it is also great to see the rapid decline that IE6 is on in this region and that now at least IE8 is the top browser with IE7 and Firefox a tie for third. But particularly good to see is the rapid growth of Firefox, if this trend continues I can see Firefox becoming the leading browser in Asia very soon. Lastly, let’s take a look at Africa.

Global Stats – By Version – Africa June 9, 2009 – July 10, 2010

Interestingly Africa shows pretty much the same trend as Asia but the difference here is that while Internet Explorer 6 is rapidly declining the two browsers that has gained the most growth is IE8 and Firefox, with IE7 actually showing a steady decline. Another clear winner for the African content is the rapid growth of Chrome.

The Line In The Sand

Looking at the above stats it is clear to see that the top three browsers at this point and time is Internet Explorer 8 and 7 as well as Firefox 3.6. We can also see a clear rapid decline in the usage of Internet Explorer 6, which is very encouraging. Other browser that are showing strong growth is Safari 5 and Chrome especially showing great growth in all markets. My believe though is that there is a browser that is extremely popular on mobile devices that is going to show some seriously strong growth over the next 6 months to a year and that browser is Opera.

With the data above, these are the browsers that, to my mind, should be supported.

• Internet Explorer 7 and 8
• Firefox 3+
• Chrome
• Opera 10.60
• Safari 4.1+

With that said, the approach to supporting these versions should always be progressive enhancement. And making your application or website at the very least usable in IE6 is enough, as it is clear that this browser is making a quick sprint to the trash heap, even in emerging/third-world countries. Besides sharing the above information, one of my main goals with writing this article was to find out how the rest off the web developer world goes about deciding where to draw the line in the sand with regards to browser support.

Looking forward to your comments and learning which browser you believe should be supported and how you come to that decision. How do you convince your clients that supporting a certain subset is best?

All data provided by StatCounter, click on each of the charts to go to the chart in it’s original context.