You may have recently received email with the subject line “Important ICANN Notice Regarding Your Domain Name(s)”.  This is a standard annual check by all accredited registrars to make sure their domain registrants review their domain name contact information and make any changes necessary to ensure accuracy.   If you receive this email from your domain registrar (including YNot Web), just follow the instructions defined in the email, which will generally include a link for you to review your current contact settings.  Under ICANN rules and the terms of most domain registration agreements, providing false contact information can be grounds for revoking your domain name registration.  To review the ICANN policy, visit: http://www.icann.org/registrars/wdrp.htm

Well as another round of “latest and greatest” products come into play after the massive holiday gift-giving season, I like to take a look at trends and current stats for what settings and software internet users have.

The stat I pay attention to most is screen resolution.  This impacts my business the most as I like to keep in mind how wide a website design should be and how much information will fit “above the fold” for most internet users (see my previous blog entry for Above the Fold and stats from early last year).

Currently, 75% of web users have a resolution of 1024×768 or higher.  This is in contrast to the 78% that had 1024×768 or lower last April.  More and more wide-screen and large flat screen monitors and better video cards installed in the latest computer equipment are in use than ever before.  However, there is still a functional limit as we humans can only process so much and especially can read text only so tiny.  13% of users still have a resolution of 800×600 (the old standard) and I wonder if that demographic will ever truly go away.  Perhaps we will see trends where websites just start using larger fonts to meet the needs of an aging baby boomer generation.   Perhaps not, but time will tell.

Next, I check out browser popularity.  Microsoft is the giant with 84% of the internet community using some version of Internet Explorer.  However, this is a significant decrease from last year at this time (90%) as Firefox gains ground jumping from 6% to 11% in one year (yep, that is the exact amount Internet Explorer lost). If you want to check out Firefox yourself, you can here.

An amazing 19% already have adopted Internet Explorer 7 even though many early adopters, including myself, suggested that it may be better to Hold Off on IE7.

I hope you’ve found this informative as you build or continue to build your web presence.

Don’t push that button!  I would recommend NOT upgrading to IE7 when your Windows Updater prompts you to do so.  There are still some major issues.  Frankly, I’m surprised Microsoft would release it like this, even with Microsoft’s so-called reputation for putting out products that aren’t quite ready.  Complaints about computers crashing, unable to browse anything, IE freezing up are pouring in on forums and newsgroups.  Personally, I can say, though I readily installed it in order to start testing websites I’m working on in the new version, I can no longer use IE as my main browser (Firefox to the rescue).  Basically, it fails to load so many pages on the first try (saying ‘there must be problem with your internet connection or the website you’re viewing).  Refreshing the pages allows me to continue on my merry way, but who wants to hit ‘refresh’ for nearly every page they browse to. 

Again, I’m shocked they would release the product this way.  Perhaps their beta group is not representive of real people?  I know several techs who installed it long ago with no issues.  Unfortuntely, I’m not one of them.  I do plan to try a reinstall but if that doesn’t work and I can’t revert to IE6, I will be switching completely to Firefox until MS can correct the issues.

In case you’re stuck with no way back to IE6, you can find Firefox with the link below.  Its nice and fast and has given us the option for ‘tabbed’ windows(something MS is introducing with IE7) for a couple of years:

Well, yes I did.  I had a nice 2 week reprieve from the “summer” season but that came quickly to an end with the “end of year crush”.

I’m not really sure why (and it seems to get worse every year) but I get inundated with new prospects as the holidays approach.  And I’m not the only one, I get several referrals from other developers that are similarly getting barraged with requests and I know the ones I pass overflow business to are also booked.

My only theory is that people made pledges to themselves that they would either get a web site or fix their existing web site and make it work better for them this year and suddenly they realize ‘this year’ is almost over.  I also get some stragglers that want something up ‘for the holidays’.  Most holiday-themed (or shopping themed) sites need to be up and running by no later than mid-September to be contenders for the holiday shopping frenzy. 

As for anyone who wants a site by the end of the year, I pretty much have a policy against it by mid-October.  Normally, 6-10 weeks is plenty of time to finish a site, but I find it works out better for everyone involved to have a realistic view of their level of involvement during the holidays.  Plus, launching at the beginning of the new year can give you a sense of optimism and vigor to meet your business goals for next year.

For those who still want to try to find a developer that will say they can finish your project before the end of the year, I say sincere apologies that I cannot oblige and good luck with your project.

Our Server migration is complete and email appears to be stable, so its back to business as usual for YNot Web. We hope you all had a enjoyable and relaxing Labor Day.