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From the looks of things, the age of writing 10 completely separate sites for 5 different browsers is coming to a close. And for us at Operis Systems, we're calling it now. With the recent release of Internet Explorer 8 Beta, we've officially decided to cease supporting IE 6 in our new websites. In addition, we've developed an official policy with a list of browsers that we will support.
Why have we done this? Time -- it's not unlimited you know. We can spend days debugging IE 5, 5.5, 6, Safari 2, and the plethora of pre-standards browsers. This takes too much time for too little gain. W3Schools.com reports that only 1% of their traffic is currently coming from IE 5 and 5.5 combined.
But why have we chosen to stop supporting IE 6? The answer is simple: it is a shotily-made browser that was written with absolutely no respect for the web development community at large. It doesn't support transparency in PNG images, it adds padding and margins seemingly arbitrarily, some Javascript doesn't work, it doesn't support a correct Box-Model, and it's seriously insecure. Finally, IE 7 is a free, easy upgrade and Mozilla Firefox is a free, easy install. There is no excuse for still using IE 6.
Here's what we're going to do for our new sites that won't support IE 6. When a user using IE 6 logs on for the first time (the "first time" notation will be managed by a cookie) he will get a Javascript popup that says, "Your browser sucks, may I show you a free one that doesn't?" Well, it'll say it nicer than that, of course. If they say "yes," then they'll be redirected to a page explaining Mozilla Firefox and how it's better, etc., and then it will recommend they download and install it.
And now for my favorite slogan of all time: "Firefox eats Internet Explorer for Breakfast!!!"
The Firefox name and logo and the Internet Explorer name and logo are properties of the Mozilla Foundation and the Microsoft Corporation respectively.
Posted by: Travis
Thanks Brian, but no, I didn’t draw it. Not really sure who did. I’ve looked to try to find the original designer, but no joy.
Traffic on sites not compatible with IE6 probably will go down, but if there’s a proper notice telling people to update their browser, I’m o.k. with it. Here’s why: allowing people to use browsers that are out of date is like allowing people to use dirty needles (of course, not as physically dangerous).
Here’s my idea: Build a centralized system that hosts scripts to check browsers for “out-of-date-ness,” and then there will also be explanation pages for how and why people need to update their browser. Would a system like this actually be used? trusted? Check out www.heritagea.org and see the little red message that is put on the pages if your Big-4 browser is out of date. That’s the kind of nagging but non-obtrusive message that could be displayed. Ideas? Comments? Statements that I’m completely insane?
I have tried this in the past and your normal mom and pop people dont want to install anything they want to use what they got.
It will be interesting to see if usage of a site goes down because of this policy. I agree IE6 sucks and I spent 30% of my time developing interfaces trying to get it to work the same in IE as in firefox. I take that back maybe it was like 60% of my development time.PS love that picture did you draw it?
By Far the coolest picture on the Web!