Browsers and webtrends update (09/10/2008 14:11)

ManagerLeague Browser Statistics - and why it matters!

Every now and then, I put up a little stats on your browser usage when playing ManagerLeague. We have been fairly clear about which browsers we recommend using, and we were happy when IE7 came to the rescue of all IE6 users, making the "default browser" finally closing the gap we saw earlier when it comes to functionality and security.
To developers like me, these numbers are important, as they show trends and they provide me with information about what kind of features can be added, planned for, and hopefully supported given an approximate timeframe. That said, it would seem as if the biggest leap has already been made over the past few years, with Opera and FireFox paving the way for new standards, better rendering, security and a more feature-rich browser experience.

Lets say I would like to create a really cool page in the game, which needs a properly transparent PNG-image as a background:
The below table lets me know that just over 12 % of the players today would have problems rendering that correctly, as PNGs are not exactly very nice in IE6. (Yes yes, there are ways to do it using DX-filters etc, but that wasn't the point)

I am relieved to see that Most IE-users have jumped over to 7.0,and that most FireFox users have jumped to 3.0.
I urge everyone I know to make sure they use the best browser they possibly can, and as the browser will become more and more important in the future, it doesn't hurt anyone to upgrade a couple of times each year. there will come a time, in a very near future,where users left on old browsers like IE6, Opera 6 and 7, and even FireFox 1, will find web-applications no longer working for them.
Here at ManagerLeague HQ, we are very close to wave goodbye to the IE6 browser when it comes to optimal support. By next year, I am guessing that we will see features that will not look right in IE6 and in FireFox versions older than 1.5. If I were you, I'd upgrade now, rather than wait!

Browser	Traffic (ManagerLeague)	Traffic (Global)
Internet Explorer7	36,89% (+ 3,72)	46,35%
FireFox 3	31,08% (+31,08)	13,27%
Internet Explorer 6	12,76% (-13,99)	24,67%
FireFox 2	9,52% (-22,95)	5,77%
Opera 9	4,82% (+ 0,64)	0,67%
Safari	1,44% (+ 0,86)	5,20%
Chrome	1,08% (+ 1,08)	0,78%
FireFox 1	0,66% (- 1,80)	0,14%
Internet Explorer 8	0,22% (+ 0,22)	0,37%
Mobile browsers***	0,10% (  N/A )	N/A
Other	1,43% (  N/A )	N/A
*** SonyEricsson, Nokia, Samsung, BlackBerry and LG
Platform	Marketshare (ManagerLeague)	Marketshare (Global)
Internet Explorer	49,87% (- 9,97)	72,22%
FireFox	41,26% (+ 6,33)	19,48%
Opera	4,82% (+ 0,64)	0,71%
Safari	1,44% (+ 0,86)	6,39%
Chrome	1,08% (+ 1,08)	0,26%

All stats are from September 2008, and all comparisons (+/- x,xx%) are based on the numbers from January 2008.

Again, we see we have a lot of Opera users here at ManagerLeague (Hello Norway!) and we have rather few Safari users (we have very few Mac-users actually).
Also, like last time, we have a much more even split between Internet Explorer and FireFox than the global market would indicate. This is rather normal for game-related sites though, as they are played mostly by young men who are the most eager browser upgraders.

A final note to the ONE person who keeps trying to use Internet Explorer 3.01:
Give it up, it will never work!

Have a nice weekend :)

- Spinner