Recently, in the Small Business Advocate poll, we asked this question: “You have many browsers options to choose from as you surf the Internet. Which of these browsers do you use most often?” Here are the results:

24% - Firefox
48% - Internet Explorer
12% - Safari
16% - Chrome
0% - Other

Jim’s Comments:

Sometime in the spring of 1995, businesses and the public were allowed for the first time to post commercial HTML “web” pages on the Internet. If you remember those early days, you might enjoy being reminded that the browser you used was likely the Netscape Navigator.

We didn’t ask too much of Navigator, we were just glad to have a piece of software that would give you better access to the information super-highway. Then, like most things, someone came along and tinkered with improving browser capability as folks began to see the power of this Internet interface.

Of course, the Big Daddy of browsers is now Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, or simply “IE.” The reason IE reached the level of being the most used browser was due to it being bundled with Microsoft Windows operating system that was loaded on virtually every PC purchased in the last dozen years that wasn’t a Macintosh.

Today, Internet users have an array of browser platforms to choose from, each with their own loyal users. In fact, it didn’t take too long after 1995 for the “Browser Wars” to start, which included International anti-trust cases.

We wanted to know what browsers our listeners and readers use, so last week we asked this question: “You have many browser options to choose from as you surf the Internet. Which of these browsers do you use most often?”

It was no surprise to me that the top vote-getter was Internet Explorer, coming in at 48%. But it must be noted that the size of IE’s dominance is diminishing.

It was also predictable that Mozilla’s Firefox came in second, with almost one-fourth of respondents preferring this platform. Firefox users may not be the largest, but they seem to be the most ardent devotees of a browser, so much so that I like to tease them by calling them Firefox elitists, or snobs.

Google’s Chrome browser came in with a strong 16% of our sample. Many people are drawn to all things Google. And Apple’s Safari came in last, with 14% making this choice. This number is likely up due to the growth of the iPad, which uses Safari as the default browser.

On my primary computer, a laptop, I use IE most of the time and Firefox to a lesser degree. With my iPad I use what Apple loaded on it, Safari. I have never used Chrome.

The good news is we have lots of browser choices, except with the iPad, which apparently only allows Safari.