When developing a Web site, it’s important to take into account how people will be viewing it. The most important factors in terms of view are what resolution visitors will be viewing it at and what browser (and version) they’re likely to use.

Back in the day when HTML and Web sites were younger, most computers were set at 800 by 600 resolution, with some people branching up into the 1024 by 768 "high resolution" option, and some stragglers still at 640 by 480. Of course, back then, almost everybody had a desktop computer and a CRT monitor... those are the ones that weigh more than the computer.

With the advent of flat screen monitors, the sizes began to vary more, growing increasing larger and allowing high resolutions. 1024 by 768 is now considered the default "’low resolution" for computers (smartphones, not surprisingly, have lower resolutions for their tiny screens); and there’s a huge variance in resolutions available between laptops, flat screens and the occasional television hooked up to a computer. (You can see a current list here, if you’re curious.)

There are, fortunately, fewer variations in the available browsers. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is maintaining the lead with version 6, 7 and 8 in wide use. In the last year, Safari and Opera, which are primarily used on Mac computers, have lost ground to Google’s Chrome, while Firefox has held steady in second place. Most business users continue to use Internet Explorer, so any Web site designed for businesses should be optimized for Internet Explorer, taking into account variations within their three versions.