Is your browser up to date?

Most browsers tend to update themselves, or prompt you when they need a refresh. But did you know that 12% of people use Chrome 56, compared to the 10.78% of people that use Chrome 58, the more up to date version? Ideally, you should update your browser when prompted as to avoid browsing on something that’s outdated.

Common browsers

Here are the top 10 most common browsers from January – June 2017:

1. Microsoft Internet Explorer 11.0 – 12.45%
2. Chrome 56.0 – 12.09%
3. Chrome 58.0 – 10.78%
4. Chrome 55.0 – 9.58%
5. Chrome 57.0 – 7.12%
6. Chrome 45.0 – 6.41%
7. Microsoft Edge 14 – 4.82%
8. Chrome 49.0 – 3.08%
9. Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0 – 2.55%
10. Firefox 53 – 2.34%

Although IE 11 tops the list by a small margin, we need to take into consideration that this is the default browser for all Windows machines, and so those who buy these devices for leisure may not bother downloading a different browser. From these results we could infer that Google Chrome is actually the most popular as it appears a total of six times in this list. If everyone were to update their browsers or devices so that it would be up to date, the percentage of Chrome users would storm ahead.

Why should I update my browser?

It’s free and easy to update your browser. As aforementioned, in most cases the browser automatically updates itself. But sometimes you will be prompted to update it. This is the same for operating systems, although if you wanted to upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 10, a small fee will apply.

Updating your browser and operating system can increase the level of security your device has. Take the NHS hacking as an example. Hackers had gained access to a cyber weapon that allowed them to take advantage of Microsoft software. Microsoft issued a patch to solve this, but many organisations including the NHS failed to install this, resulting in a cyberattack.

How it helps business

If your business makes websites, like ours, then you understand the pain of out of date browsers and operating systems. We tend to make and test websites to suit the needs of the browsers and operating systems that are most commonly used, and so if a client is using a ten year old browser or system, it becomes difficult to test. This is just one good reason to update!