But then you consider that in the mid 90s, the raw number of devices regularly running Netscape Navigator was probably on par with todays usage statistics of Opera.

Out by half. Opera claim an active 300m users per month[1]; it doesn’t look like Netscape ever exceeded 130m (combination of [2] and [3]).

[1] http://business.opera.com/press/faq

[2] http://www.allaboutmarketresearch.com/internet.htm

[3] http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Netscape-navigator-us...

I'd bet its even less than that. I remember watching the comets fall on that stupid icon and waiting... and waiting... only the truest of nerds tolerated that nonsense.