It’s been almost exactly six months since I checked the numbers. Here’s the latest report from this site, courtesy of SiteMeter:

Browser shares are statistically unchanged in the past year. The Firefox/Mozilla share is at 35.3%, up a point from its 34.2% total last September and back to its 35.2% share from a year ago.

IE is also stuck at the same level: 61% today, down a half-point from September and up a point from its 60% share a year ago.

Opera, at less than 2%, hasn’t made any inroads, and the number of visitors to this Windows-focused site using Safari is predictably small.

The one noteworthy trend I see is in upgrades. Firefox has done a better job of encouraging its user base to upgrade to version 2.0. Roughly 16% of the Firefox users who show up here are still using version 1.x, whereas 35% of IE users have resisted attempts to upgrade to IE7.

(And yes, I realize that browser strings can be tweaked, but I’m pretty confident that the overwhelming majority of entries in this database reflect the true underlying browser.)

Trend-watchers can look at all previous editions by following these links:

September 2006

April 2006

August 2005

October 2004

I just stopped by Amazon and noticed that Windows Vista Inside Out is now on sale for 40% off its list price: $29.99 with free shipping. That’s $3.00 less than it’s been selling for recently.

If you’ve been looking for an excuse to buy your own copy, here it is.

Mike Torres talks some smack:

I won’t buy or recommend an Apple TV to anyone. If you want to know what the picture quality is like, do a couple Tequila shots, spin around a few times, bang your head against the floor, and then watch broadcast TV on an old 19″ JVC. Don’t skip a step.

I’m sure the man in the turtleneck has a brilliant master plan, but I’m not ready to sign up either. Can’t someone figure out a way to deliver HDTV to my big screen set over my high-speed connection?

Scott Hanselman devises a Family Backup Strategy. Sadly, the inspiration is an unexpected data loss (all of his Dad’s e-mail from 2005 and 2006).

What’s your backup strategy? Do you have one?

I’ve got three big projects competing for my attention this week. Thus, expect light posting for a while.

My ZDNet colleague George Ou has a very nice introduction to the differences between 32-bit and 64 bit Windows. If you’re planning a new PC purchase and weighing the pros and cons of the x86 and x64 architectures, it’s worth reading.

I bought a pair of new Dell dual-core machines, one in December and another in January. Both came with Express Upgrade options entitling me to a copy of Windows Vista for the cost of shipping and handling – $10 each.

According to Dell, one of those copies is due to arrive tomorrow morning. For those keeping score, that’s exactly six weeks after the retail release of Windows Vista. Express? Eh.

It will be interesting to see what’s in the package. I’m expecting a utility to remove and/or replace incompatible programs and drivers, plus the Vista media itself. But Dell doesn’t make this software available for download, as far as I can tell, so who knows?

Anyone else get their Express Upgrade package yet?

This announcement from Michael Gartenberg is a total head-scratcher. Last month, he jumped to Microsoft’s payroll as “enthusiast evangelist.” This month, he jumps back:

But after much of thought [sic], I have decided not to remain with Microsoft and I am returning to JupiterResearch as of Monday 3/12.

I’m wondering what kind of breakdown in one’s training as an analyst it takes to misread the impact of a personal decision so thoroughly. And what sort of trigger does it take to convince one to publicly renounce a major, widely publicized decision so quickly?

Weird.

Chris Pirillo gets “pissed off at the people who are blaming me for Vista’s shortcomings.”

A wee bit defensive, are we?

In this case, at least, you’re pointing a finger at the wrong guy, Chris. I’m not blaming you for anything, nor am I suggesting that you’ve made the wrong decision, nor am I trying to get you back on the Vista bus. Seriously, go back and read what I wrote and someone please tell me where I said all that stuff, because I can’t find it. I just said my experience is different from Chris’s, and I’ve heard the same from plenty of other people.

Oh, and agitprop is a term of endearment, buddy, a deliberately anachronistic word dragged from the shelf, dusted off, and applied to the bomb-throwing, emotional, over-the-top, headline-grabbing style that propels people to the top of Slashdot and Digg and so on. It’s the reason you and Dvorak and Cringely have 100 times the traffic I do (and make about 10 times what I do besides).

But I don’t mind. It’s just software.

Update: Be sure to read Chris’s response in the comments, and my response to that, and then keep reading, because there’s more good stuff there. Hell, you could even add your own comment.

I’ve noticed in recent weeks as I talk to people about Windows Vista that many, many people pronounce it VEE-stah. I expect that here in my home in the Southwest, where the Spanish language has an influence on just about everything. But I also hear it in talking with people on the phone from places like Washington State and Indianapolis – not exactly Hispanic capitals.

Anyone else notice this?