When should I dump Netscape 4?

Stats still show large usage

[Hester]

I had seen Netscape 4 as high as 30% in recent web stats. Then I realised it might be down to me testing in it! So last month was "No Netscape Month" - I did not load the browser once. Here are the resulting hits for last month:

(Browser / Hits / Visitors / Percentage)

1. Internet Explorer 6.x / 28,587 / 842 / 68.07%
2. Internet Explorer 5.x / 2,070 / 97 / 7.84%
3. Netscape 4.x 211 / 60 / 4.85%

When can I realistically stop coding for Netscape 4? When it reaches only 1%? Is 5% still too high? I mean, it's the third browser listed!

I will continue to monitor these stats, though I feel many of our users will carry on using Netscape until their IT department finally changes it. Some users cannot install programs on their PCs (being universities) so what to do but wait...

[tedster]

I frequently travel on public transit between NYC and Boston, and I often see handhelds and smartphones being used to access websites. And it will be growing more and more rapidly.

And now back to the original topic -- when to abandon NN4 support, I think ;)

I'd say the consensus here is eminently sensible. A browser support decision must depend on a cost/benefit analysis for the specific situation. We aren't working in anything close to an ideal technical environment right now, so this is a very practical issue that has little to do with ideals and everything to do with available resources.

Hester, if you really have that high a percentage of NN4 due to the academic nature of your audience, then you will probably want support the browser for a good bit longer. If I saw numbers like that, I would roll out my NN4 and test every page.

Reluctantly, yes -- but still, I would do it.

[isitreal]

Tedster, sensible as usual. I've always tried to let the stats dictate what I did, it's been with a huge sigh of relief that I'm finally these last few months starting to see those netscape 4 numbers finally dip below 1% on almost all my sites, at which point I've gotten a lot more comfortable using @import to protect the page display since it will affect only a small number of people.

Oh, if you want another accessibility headache, check your stuff out on webtv, I just downloaded the emulator from MS [developer.msntv.com], that's pretty funny, it actually tries to do CSS and javascript, which is worse than not trying at all like Opera in small screen mode.

But re handhelds, do you have any actual numbers on those? Have you seen that on the sites you do?

[tedster]

Aw, shoot -- I was trying to get this thread back on topic. Some very interesting other topics have been brought up along the way, but they really each deserve their own thread.

I mean nothing personal about any single contributor here, but I'm locking this thread now because it's weaving around like a drunk at 4am. I think we've long since killed the original topic (when to abandon support for NN4).