Again, what he's really suggesting is this: " rel="nofollow">http://forabeautifulweb.com/blog/about/universal_internet_ex.... He's just chosen to introduce it with a poor first paragraph.
Don't Stop Supporting IE6
21–30 of 36 posts
Re: Don't Stop Supporting IE6
#22What a crock. Not being a dick to people let them sit in their stupid comfortable IE6 for the last 8 years blissfully unaware that they were holding back advancements that would make their lives better. If I try to run new software on Windows 95, it will slap me in the face and tell me to slag off. The same should hold true for the web. You go ahead and spend time delivering content to IE6 Toby, but I'm going to hop…
The idea they have been holding back for 8 years is wrong. IE7 came out in 2006, that's 3 years. As is fairly normal people didn't switch to another browser because they were happy with what they had. They just haven't updated their version in 3 years, which is pretty normal with other types of software.
Internet Explorer isn't the only browser out there.
Re: Don't Stop Supporting IE6
#23What a crock. Not being a dick to people let them sit in their stupid comfortable IE6 for the last 8 years blissfully unaware that they were holding back advancements that would make their lives better. If I try to run new software on Windows 95, it will slap me in the face and tell me to slag off. The same should hold true for the web. You go ahead and spend time delivering content to IE6 Toby, but I'm going to hop…
The idea they have been holding back for 8 years is wrong. IE7 came out in 2006, that's 3 years. As is fairly normal people didn't switch to another browser because they were happy with what they had. They just haven't updated their version in 3 years, which is pretty normal with other types of software.
And does this mean we are going to drop other browsers that have had replacements 3 years ago or more? Like Firefox 1.x, Opera 8 (version 7 is on the Wii), Safari 1.x etc.
Re: Don't Stop Supporting IE6
#24That's exactly what I do: IE6 must work, but I don't care how it looks. And it looks bad - mainly because of lack of support for transparent pngs (and I don't care to play with the workarounds).
But also things are not always in the right place, etc. But everything works.
Re: Don't Stop Supporting IE6
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
The idea they have been holding back for 8 years is wrong. IE7 came out in 2006, that's 3 years. As is fairly normal people didn't switch to another browser because they were happy with what they had. They just haven't updated their version in 3 years, which is pretty normal with other types of software.
Internet Explorer isn't the only browser out there.
No, but for large windows installations based on active directory it's the only one they can easily manage. Other browsers need to provide an MSI installer to make it easy, though after 5.5 years of asking, Firefox still doesn't have one:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=231062
Also lots of people need IE for ActiveX based intranet webapps - people seem to have a real mis-understanding of the real issues.
Re: Don't Stop Supporting IE6
#26Cross-posted from my comments on the blog itself:
I think the reason for the recent high-profile assault is not zeal on the part of the people actively decrying IE6. They just realize that sometimes, to make change happen (especially change this “drastic”) is to make a lot of noise. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
They want people to stop using it, instead of just refusing to design for it for 2 reasons (and maybe more):
1. As web designers/developers, we are passionate about people having a beautiful and pleasant web experience. If we just stop developing for IE6, everyone who hasn’t dropped it may have a lesser experience, which just wouldn’t do.
2. Many of them may be forced to support IE6 by their respective powers-that-be, so the only way they can stop actively supporting (designing for) it is by getting a significant amount of people to stop using it.
I agree with you in general. I am never a fan of over-zealousness and pushiness, but sometimes that’s the only way to get things done.
Re: Don't Stop Supporting IE6
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
or even lynx for that matter!
Anecdotally, I used Lynx just the other day to find a howto on fixing an issue with x.org I was having. Go lynx!
My monitor is broken and will only cope with "low pixel" modes so I'm using it from the console (on another comp). I've been using links2 for a couple of weeks now - it's amazingly good for a text browser, a few annoyances (no tabs, have to use a second console; no way to cut and paste text and links (mouse not working either!)) but on the whole quite usable. Particular I like the way it gets PNG absolutely right whilst IE hasn't even managed that in IE8 (strictly they did it by the book just they implemented it differently to the other browsers, very MS).
Re: Don't Stop Supporting IE6
#28The tone is overly-bombastic, but there's the seed of a good idea in here. Getting the a consistent look in FF3 and IE6 is Sisyphean; making a IE6-only layout much easier. The author recommends dropping the whole "one app, one look" conceit and shuffling the dinosaurs to a dinosaur pen, with a simpler layout and the same content (you have been separating content and presentation, right?).
There is definitely some bombast there. I've been fed up with folks displacing their frustrations onto users instead of getting creative and practical with the issue. I've been in this game a long, long time and I saw (and, admittedly, took part in) the "insult and block" approach with Netscape 4. Looking back, it was immature, cocky and lazy. I hate seeing people repeat the same childish mistakes. Instead, we can bu…
Is anyone really suggesting going back to the days of blocking on sniffed UA? I don't think so.
When people say "not supporting IE6" I think they mean no longer doing browser specific bug fixing - that's what I mean. Provided the majority of textual content is viewable I consider IE6 done (ditto links2 my only currently tested text browser). If text is not viewable (as in an MS site I visited recently with IE6!) then the client has to pay a little extra if they want to up the support.
Graceful degradation is surely the lowest level of support any designer will accept, no?
So I'm targeting XHTML1-trans and CSS2.1 with enhancements for JavaScript and CSS3 capabilities.
Re: Don't Stop Supporting IE6
#29Can't someone perform an A/B test to see what IE6 users are like?
A quick peek on a webapplication ive got google analytics for shows that they spend 8 minutes per visit on the site but the average is 10 minutes.
A peek at another static site that mainly make money on adsense show that IE6 users click on less ads. However, going by this measure I shouldnt care about FF at all since eCPM is terrible there.
Re: Don't Stop Supporting IE6
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Internet Explorer isn't the only browser out there.
No, but for large windows installations based on active directory it's the only one they can easily manage. Other browsers need to provide an MSI installer to make it easy, though after 5.5 years of asking, Firefox still doesn't have one: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=231062 Also lots of people need IE for ActiveX based intranet webapps - people seem to have a real mis-understanding of the real issues.
JFGI: "firefox MSI".
And before you say but it has to have proper support, yadda-yadda. They're an MS Certified Partner and an established company based in Pennsylvania - if the MSI is messed up you should be able to sue them for losses or pay them for support.
I've never used nor do I have connection with this company - caveat emptor.