How many people have Silverlight installed? According to Rich Internet Application Statistics, Silverlight is installed on 30.27% of the machines out there. However, I’ve been tracking stats on my own site: MyPadlock.com (a free password manager for Windows) and have seen a much different number. Here are my results from the previous month:
Find out more about tracking Silverlight usage over Google Analytics.
Caveats: There are a number of differences that could account for why I’m seeing a larger percentage than the Rich Internet Application Site. First of all, I doubt I have the same volume of traffic being tracked. However, I do have a fairly healthy volume, most of my visitors are not repeat, and the numbers have shown relative consistency from month to month, so think what you like, but I’m going to rule this out as a relevant factor.
Also note that my site does not use Silverlight in anyway nor does it receive any real traffic from a source that uses Silverlight. Oh, and my own visits are not counted either.
Most likely, the difference is due to differences in audiences. Certainly, a password manager is the kind of software that power users would use for more than novice users. Also, power users are probably more apt to explore new corners of the web are therefore more likely to have encountered Silverlight at some point. And lastly, my site gives away a Windows only app and perhaps Windows users are more likely to have Silverlight installed (might be a reach but worth speculating).
Nevertheless, whatever the reason is, I still belive the statistic is valuable and at the very least, tells me what to loosely expect for anyone thinking of porting a Windows app to Silverlight.
What kind of numbers are you seeing? I’d love to hear from anyone with access to similar stats for their own site(s).
Programmer Payback 