[whatwg] Unbiased browser stats (semi-OT)

[David Gerard]

2009/11/8 Aryeh Gregor <Simetrical+w3c at gmail.com>:
> On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 10:54 AM, David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com> wrote:

>> ... or as unbiased as you're likely to get, anyway, from a top 10
>> website of very mainstream interest whose direct interest is serving
>> the readers:
>> http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/squids/SquidReportClients.htm
>> http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/squids/SquidReportOperatingSystems.htm
>> The first shows HTML5-aspiring browsers (places 2 to 5 on the list) at

> Microsoft has indicated that they intend to support HTML5 in Internet
> Explorer as well, so I don't know why it's not "HTML5-aspiring".


I heartily support their statements, but I'm afraid I'll count them
when I see action. YMMV, absolutely.


> Also, Wikipedia *editors* are probably represented very
> disproportionately in those figures, and they would certainly tend to
> use IE a lot less than the general population.


Actually, no - readers have *way* outstripped editors since about
2006. It's not even the "tech-savvy" or "web-savvy" audience -
Wikipedia is standard fare for people who can't work computers to look
stuff up on.

Wikipedia is stupidly mainstream and it's sometimes hard for those of
us on the inside (you and me) to realise just how mainstream. But when
I see a poster in Kings Cross train station advertising some pop
culture museum exhibition as "The Wikipedia of ..." (whatever it was),
it reminds me ...

So I feel quite confident in stating that this is indicative of the
actual Internet user base.


- d.