Browser Wars – Internet Explorer 6, the “Acid Wash Jeans” of the Browser World
- November 09th, 2009
- Brandon
As a web developer, part of my job is to test each and every website in multiple browsers. With so many browsers out there, that task is becoming more and more difficult. I generally test in Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera, and the troublesome Microsoft Internet Explorer.
This is where it gets tricky. It seems that most people who use a browser other than IE tend to actually update their browser more than once every 5 years. This helps keep up with the momentum and progression of web technologies and techniques. This would be kind of like renting a Blue-Ray, slapping it into your VCR, and wondering why things aren’t working properly.
I am very happy to say that more than half the visitors to the kitestring website are using something other than IE! Within the group of Firefox users, only 1.53% are using version 2, whereas for Internet Explorer, 40% are still using version 7, and a painful 12.81% are still using the extremely outdated IE6. Worldwide, IE6 still accounts for 20% of browser use.
How much of the online world has changed since 2001? A lot! And that is just from an end user’s perspective. There have been even more changes from a developer’s perspective, and an outdated (9 YEARS OLD!!!) browser, isn’t helping. The added fact that Microsoft chooses to forego standards within it’s browsers (even version 8 ) is only complicating matters further. The most frustrating thing in almost any developers day is creating a standards compliant website, then finally testing in IE, and the cursing begins.
The big question is, how far back do we go with cross-browser testing? Should a client have to pay for the extreme amount of work that goes into making a modern site work in something as archaic as Internet Explorer 6 and 7?
Web development is hardly just a copy and paste, drag and drop world, it combines the best of design and development, colours and mathematics to make a great, usable, universally accessible website.
So, please, update your browser. Please.
See http://www.bringdownie6.com/ for more information.
With android phone in one hand and a baby in the other, this family man has twins, a toddler, and a knack for blogging about his professional life as a robot whisperer and rocking chair rocker.
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One Response to “Browser Wars – Internet Explorer 6, the “Acid Wash Jeans” of the Browser World”
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It really depends on the website you are creating as to whether or not to support IE6. If your running a blog for developers then chances are most people are running Firefox and very few running IE; so why bother with IE6.
I’ve found that, through Google analytics on the sites I run or help run, that our IE traffic is 60% of all the visitors and 10-15% of all users are running IE6. My general policy is that it will render correctly for all versions but if the client is expecting more of an application or flashy feel to the site then I let them know the downfalls of particular browsers (trying not to go on a tangent of how bad IE is).
The good part is more and more people are starting to understand what a browser is and that there are better alternatives which should help eradicate the need for IE6 support. It also helps that popular sites youtube are letting users know that their browser is out of date.
Great Article.