07/08/2009
Designers and programmers might not like to hear this, but it's true:
After falling steadily for a number of years, 800x600 resolution has leveled out at 7% in the US, and we estimate that the percentage of users who currently view the Web at with a browser size of 800x600 or smaller is probably 7%-12%. Here are the numbers:
A noteworthy trend, for those of you who are fascinated by browser resolution--and we know there are millions out there--is how quickly the "Unknown" category has increased. This is partly due to people having very large monitors, or non-standard monitor sizes like widescreen laptops, but it's also due to the fact that many Netbooks and PDAs (iPhone, Blackberry, etc.) have screens which are 800x600 or smaller. Netbooks are the fastest-growing segment of the computer industry, and although many are now available with monitors 1024 pixels wide, the earlier and less expensive models have resurrected the 800 pixel width. We think it's safe to assume that at least half of the "unknown" resolutions that have shown up in the past few years are 800x600 or smaller.
So as much as we want to write off users with 10-year-old hardware, we can't assume that 1024x768 is the smart choice for every client. Some sites may be well-suited by designs 1000 pixels wide or larger, but it's still a choice that needs to be made carefully.
To find out more about browser market share and related information, see our browser market share page.