So this lunchtime Period Sites in Period Browsers (PSPB) threw up an interesting bit of history – a brief overview of Netscape Navigator users circa 1996.
In the April of 1996 – just nine months after Netscape’s IPO – Griggs-Anderson Research (later part of Gartner) conducted a survey of almost 20,000 Netscape Navigator users. The results Netscape released are rather short, but they do make up a rather interesting snapshot of the Netscape users and – by extension – users of the world wide web in the first half of 1996.
Age
| Age | Percentage |
| Under 18 | 5% |
| 18 – 25 | 19% |
| 26 – 35 | 24% |
| 36 – 45 | 24% |
| 46 – 55 | 20% |
| 56 – 65 | 6% |
| Over 65 | 2% |
Income
Income skews as one would expect for a high cost, knowledge-based hobby at that time. One would suspect that most of the lower income groups were either students, junior/unpaid academic staff, or the children of those in the higher earning groups.
| Income Band | Inflation Adjusted to 2025 USD | Percentage |
| Less than $20,000 | Less than $41,093 | 8% |
| $20,000 – 49,999 | $41,093 – $102,730 | 34% |
| $50,000 – 100,000 | $102,732 – $205,465 | 42% |
| Over $100,000 | Over $205,465 | 16% |
Gender
Unlike today, where usage by sex is about even, 1996’s Netscape users skewed heavily male at this point.
| Sex | Percentage |
| Female | 16% |
| Male | 84% |
Employment
18% of Netscape users worked in the computer industry. While 25% of users claimed that they worked in small (1-5 person) companies, 39% claimed to work in companies with more than 1,000 people. Just over three quarters (77%) worked full time with 6% working part time. 22% of Netscape users were students with about half of those students also working.
And, interestingly in this post-covid WfH age, 12% of 1996’s Netscape users claimed to work from home!
Web Navigation Skill
They also asked these Netscape users to rank their own web navigation skills. Sadly, there’s no actual indication of what the various levels corresponded with which, in those pre-Google days, would have been very interesting to see.
| Level | Percentage |
| Level 1 (Novice) | 8% |
| Level 2 | 10% |
| Level 3 | 28% |
| Level 4 | 31% |
| Level 5 (Expert) | 23% |
Other
Education wise, Netscape users at this point were 2.5 times more likely to be degree educated (22.5% US, 57% Netscape users) and 39% of them claimed to have purchased something from the web using a credit card.
And the PSPB page? That can be found here: Windows 3.11 x86 with Quarterdeck Mosaic 1.0 showing a page from ‘Netscape’.