Some interesting web trends

[Tormod]

I only have a sample of one (Hypography) but here are some interesting things from our statistics tool.

 

The tool I'm using is called Mint from Mint: A Fresh Look at your Site - it's not a professional tool in any way but it gives a good overview. I also use Google Analytics so let's compare some figures.

 

The trend for the past years has been that over 75% of our visitors have used Internet Explorer, with less than 20% using Firefox (the rest use Safari and various other browsers like Opera, Flock etc).

 

That has changed though. Firefox seems to be catching up. On some days I see Firefox hovering several points over Internet Explorer.

 

Here is the past 72 hours (as of Sunday, September 21 2008):

 

Here is what Google Analytics say for the past month (Aug 22-Sept 21, 2008)

 

The figures are close but not identical. This is because at the beginning of this period, IE was leading by much more.

 

If we look at platforms, Mac users now constitute 9% of our readership:

 

The lack of Linux visitors surprises me!

 

Note that I still see very little traffic from portable platforms. I guess Windows Mobile is included in the "Windows" section. iPhones do show up way down in my report, with about 0.1%.

 

Google also shows the same, with the Mac figures adding up to about 9% over the past month:

 

IMHO we're seeing a good trend here.

[Tormod]

I just realized that Nintendo Wii pops up with less than 1 percent - but still...wonder how Hypography looks on Wii resolution! :phones:

[alexander]

with about 0.1%

so i'm like the only person who uses his iphone to check some topics? neat...

 

dont be surprized at the fact that linux shows up at 3%... we dont have a big linux community here, simply because we don't have any projects, linux discussion boards, development, etc, here... linux users generally visit sitest that deal with the said above, more

[Tormod]

dont be surprized at the fact that linux shows up at 3%... we dont have a big linux community here, simply because we don't have any projects, linux discussion boards, development, etc, here... linux users generally visit sitest that deal with the said above, more

 

I am surprised. These days you can buy PCs loaded with Linux instead of Windows. There is so much talk about how "normal" users can move from Windows to Linux. But apparently nobody is doing it. :confused:

[alexander]

normal users aren't, because all too many of them are stuck with the image of a window in their head, and the notion that that is the only way to go....

[pgrmdave]

Without getting too much into it, windows is still easier for someone who doesn't know anything about computers. It's more prone to breaking, but it's also easier to be able to walk down to the store, pick up a cd, pop it in, and have the software install. If you know what you're doing, linux isn't much more difficult, and can be easier for advanced things, but for basic plug-and-play, windows is still good. Until Linux realizes that the only thing that matters to non-computer users is an easy, simple interface, it will lag behind Windows.

[alexander]

Without getting too much into it, windows is still easier for someone who doesn't know anything about computers.

One of research projects i was involved in, actually proved that wrong... for someone who doesn't know anything about computers, the ease of use of computers came as such (in this order, based on both personal preference, and what users were doing in 2 hours and complexity of tasks they could complete with no guidance) : OS X (Tiger at the time), then Linux (Ubuntu: gnome) then Linux (Kubuntu: Kde) then Windows...

 

I set up hardware, stock installs, and provided testing and reporting environments. I did not define judging guidelines, generate the reports, nor was i there when the experiment was actually taking place... (to not taint the process with my computer knowledge, i was told...)

[Tormod]

Yeah, but the stats show otherwise, no? It may be easier but people don't use it. :)

[alexander]

the fact that scienceforums does not get visited as much by nix systems, does not infact show otherwise, we just happen to be a predominantly windows community, apparently...

[Tormod]

Ignoring the 9% Mac users though? :)

[alexander]

hehe myself included there, so ofcourse i'm not

[Tormod]

Seriously though, my point wasn't really the Linux users but rather the diminishing Internet Explorer figures. Firefox is catching up. On some days it is even higher than IE.

 

That is probably partly due to the fact that 12% now use Mac or Linux (but many Mac users use Safari). So we must conclude that many Windows users are switching to Firefox - which is great news.

[alexander]

hey, i use firefox exclusively on all platforms, windows, mac, linux, i loves my firefox :)

[pgrmdave]

I use firefox on all my computers, and I download it onto all the schools computers, including getting firegestures for it (I don't know how I ever browsed without it!).

[alexander]

yes, cant live without stelther, web-developer, quick java, firegpg, fireftp, adblock filterset g, and ofcourse the NASA night launch theme!!!

 

i also enjoy RusKey, which alows me to type in russian using a phonetic layout, i use foxy proxy for quick switching to tor, or a sock5 proxy for tunneling out and stuff like that :)

[iViolet]

another mac user here.

 

i tend to use safari in the arcade and firefox for general browsing.