[Ashley Byrom]

Okay, I really do struggle to understand this.

Why does IE even bother? Really...

If they have most of the market or whatever after years of forcing users to use Internet Explorer why is it possibly the most annoying browser out there?

Whenever I create any website I'm always looking out for where IE doesn't support something. I rarely have to do it with Firefox or Safari, always internet explorer.

Is there a reason why it lacks abilities? If there is somebody PLEASE tell me...

P.S: I know all the Internet Explorer separates the men from the boys stuff but still... why?

[welshhuw]

i always code in forefox then check IE - i find i get alot less issues that way. try it.

[sunwukung]

who knows? Why does Apple give Google/Adobe a hard time?

I would put it down to 2 things, competition and innovation. Since they have so much market share (and since most users out there are not as web savvy as us lot) they enjoy a position in which they can dictate terms.

Sometimes, they've been quite innovative. AJAX? Microsoft did it first, they set the ball rolling - they just didn't alter their implementation to fit with everyone else afterwards. On the other hand, they pretty much killed XML, and have put the brakes on adopting the new CSS/HTML standards too - never mind what they did to Javascript (although those shortcomings arguably gave rise to the need for libs like jQuery).

Like Apple, Sony (blu-ray vs HD) they've got a big gang, and they don't need to play ball if they don't want to.

My philosophy - live with it for paying jobs, don't support them on your personal sites...

[notbanksy]

It's one of those things - if you work hard to monopolise a market, then why would you want to make life easier for your competitors? SWK has a point, m$ has been innovative in the past, but their rendering engine has been seriously flawed until IE8 (which is actually not that bad at all).

Also I think it's good marketing in some ways... Think about it. Most of your non techy users are a captive audience. They don't know what a browser is let along how to install an alternative. That means that anyone doing anything for the web needs your product, even if it is just for testing purposes.

At the end of the day, business has very different objectives to community, and in the case of software, those objectives are all too often directly opposed.

[PlanetCreate]

Microsoft release IE6 which was good at the time. At the time they effectively owned the browser market. Then they sat on their backsides and did nothing for years.

Every other browser progressed into brilliant compliant secure browsers apart from IE6.

Microsft only decided to do something when Firefox started taking big market share away from them.

So now Microsoft are just playing catchup.

Problem is that big companies that are tied into IE6 are to scared to move away from it.

[craftygeek]

If you adopt certain approaches to coding CSS by being aware of things like the float double margin bug & box models differences, shouldn't shouldn't need to do much fixing for IE.

Agreed it really is annoying to have to continually adjust & check for different IE versions, but with experience I really don't find it anywhere as troublesome as I used to.

The bigger problem with the older IE browsers is the amount of time that microsoft continues to support them for - they really should just cut off some dead weight.

[digiLARB]

Whenever I convert family and friends to FireFox or Chrome they always ask why they are so much 'better' than IE
.
My reply has always been that IE is such a dated browser that inevitably so much is added to. Just look at the Internet Options and Advanced tab in IE. Is it really any surprise that it has become 'sluggish'?

I always use the comparative of mobile phones. I always remember my practically-featureless Nokia 3210 and how reliable, fast and simple it was to use. Now I find that my drastically overpriced and feature-filled smart touch-screen-rule-your-life-phone is just waiting to crash or let me down in some new way every day. I can't even change the wallpaper image.

But that is just my humble non-technological minded view (for what it's worth.)

Rich

[ALTWeb]

I aswell always code in Firefox then check afterwards in IE / chrome / opera etc etc. I cannot stand IE 8. Makes me 'grr' irl.

[ALTWeb]

Also - I don't think Chrome is any better, personally. I have nothing but issues with Chrome. The only time I resort to using IE or Chrome is if I'm watching a film or documentary or something online, and Firefox has decided to be mean and stop running it properly.

[zed]

ALTWeb, on 02 June 2010 - 03:18 AM, said:

and Firefox has decided to be mean and stop running it properly.

lol, the irony in a thread about IE not working properly

[Another Expat]

IE 6 will be with us for a while because many companies built apps that only work on IE6 and it would cost more to re-code the apps than the productivity they lose using outdated browsers.

cheers

----
St Albans Web Design
Web Design, Development and Email Marketing

[KCooper]

Another Expat, on 08 June 2010 - 03:57 PM, said:

IE 6 will be with us for a while because many companies built apps that only work on IE6 and it would cost more to re-code the apps than the productivity they lose using outdated browsers.

We just have to be happy with the fact that, slowly, usage is dropping. One day, and you gotta have a little faith, it will be little more than a distant, horrible memory...



Kyle

[jacksaidwhat]

ALTWeb, on 02 June 2010 - 03:18 AM, said:

Also - I don't think Chrome is any better, personally. I have nothing but issues with Chrome.

I've been using Chrome since it's very early releases & have never had any issues with it to be fair. Admittedly I update to the latest beta version every-time it is released, which may be why.

I always code in Chrome and then make adjustments for IE, and probably will do for the foreseeable future. Firefox is definitely a good browser and with firebug integration it really packs quite a punch, but when I switch back to it for testing I always find it relatively sluggish compared to Chrome.

In about 90% of the HTML5 compatibility tests I've seen, Chrome always ranks the highest as well.


Anyway, Chrome fanboy here... and most probably slightly biased

[ComfortablyNumb]

ALTWeb, on 02 June 2010 - 03:17 AM, said:

I aswell always code in Firefox then check afterwards in IE / chrome / opera etc etc. I cannot stand IE 8. Makes me 'grr' irl.

Same here. Always code in Firefox. Then when I test in IE6 Im almost looking though my hands expecting to see horror appear in front of me!

[KCooper]

ComfortablyNumb, on 18 June 2010 - 11:13 PM, said:

Same here. Always code in Firefox. Then when I test in IE6 Im almost looking though my hands expecting to see horror appear in front of me!

haha, I can DEFINATELY relate to that feeling. Although theres a near wave of euphoria the occasional time you realise the damage isn't THAT bad :-P


Kyle