Browsers

It's curious, when an OpenCart website doesn't render properly in Firefox (eg. the buttons in v 1.x don't render properly in FF2), the user simply upgrades their copy of Firefox. The same applies to Opera users. BUT, if they are using IE6, they merely complain about things not rendering properly and don't even consider upgrading.

IE7 was released nearly 3 years ago, and touted as a "mandatory security upgrade" for IE6. A year later the validation was removed, allowing people with illegitimate copies of Windows to upgrade. As far as I am concerned, there are no excuses for people to still be using IE6.

No offence intended but, instead of complaining/commenting about pages not rendering properly, why not upgrade??

People don't upgrade because they simply don't know how (picture your grandma shopping on the net), or it's not possible for them (they can't alter their box on the job), etc... reasons are endless.

But anyway, are you really asking this to the millions of users still using IE6?
It's the job of the web developer to make a site work in all the major browsers. You can't expect people to update a browser just to look at your little website. That worked to a limited degree in the 90ies (messages like "best viewed in Netscape 4" or "optimized for IE" or "download this font to view this site porperly" were common on websites)

Sure MS released IE7 years ago, but lets be honest, it's still crapware (you can't polish a piece of shit). Just look at the track record of total failure with their browser. I'm brutally honest but I'm paid to make websites since '98, and I had to struggle with a lot of things. I think everyone would agree that any IE version is causing the most of headaches...

nde wrote:People don't upgrade because they simply don't know how (picture your grandma shopping on the net), or it's not possible for them (they can't alter their box on the job), etc...

People don't know how to upgrade? Like most operating systems, Windows installs with an automatic update feature that is turned ON by default.

Updates have finished downloading. Click balloon to install.

or some similar message will tell you what you've got to do (grandma can click a mouse button, can't she? If not, maybe she shouldn't be using the computer?). If people are smart enough to turn "Automatic Updates" off, then they have enough intelligence to do a manual update.

Can't alter their box on the job. True -- company policies would (should) prevent employees from installing anything onto their work computer. However, if they still have IE6 on them, I'd be telling the boss that he/she should consider sacking their IT security staff.

reasons are endless.

Excuses are endless!

But anyway, are you really asking this to the millions of users still using IE6?
It's the job of the web developer to make a site work in all the major browsers. You can't expect people to update a browser just to look at your little website.

No, not all of them. Just those who want to visit my "little website".

Yes, it is the job of the web developer to make a site work in all the major browsers. But, this is the 21st century and there are standards to be complied with. Why break those standards just to support a browser that was built years before the standards were developed?

To make a comparison -- you wouldn't put modern fuels into a vintage vehicle without making some upgrades to the engine first!

Sure MS released IE7 years ago, but lets be honest, it's still crapware (you can't polish a piece of shit). Just look at the track record of total failure with their browser.

I agree 100%.

I'm brutally honest but I'm paid to make websites since '98, and I had to struggle with a lot of things. I think everyone would agree that any IE version is causing the most of headaches...

I've been coding for publishing since the mid-70s (both print and web) and I fully understand the struggles of making your code work in all the different browsers. This is ultimately the reason STANDARDS were developed.

I'm also being brutally honest (or maybe just brutal ), but if your current browser does not comply with developed web standards, then get one that does!

fido-x wrote:People don't know how to upgrade? Like most operating systems, Windows installs with an automatic update feature that is turned ON by default.

Alot of users don't know how to upgrade. They are also afraid to upgrade because if it breaks, which it generally does, they don't know what to do.
Even I hesitate to upgrade because after the upgrade comes the drama of fixing and tweaking things to get them back to how they were and the countless hours on Google looking for the fixes for the new upgraded bugs.

IE6 users have good money. If we want their money then we have to roll our eyes and make it to suit them

Yeah, they got the money and IE6, so make it work for them

Like I wrote above, imagine your grandma shopping on the net. She probably doesn't care what a browser is. Her IE6 will do the job and her box isn't much more than a virtual typewriter anyways.

Also, IE7 can only be installed on XP with SP2. Some users don't know how to upgrade, or they don't care. Or they might simply prefer IE6 over IE7 or 8...

fido-x wrote:I've been coding for publishing since the mid-70s (both print and web) and I fully understand the struggles of making your code work in all the different browsers. This is ultimately the reason STANDARDS were developed.

I actually learned not to use any CSS method that is likely to break in IE.
The biggest problem is IE's box model bug: I simply avoid to use padding for boxes on fixed width layouts, only use margins...

I'm waiting for a class action lawsuit from FF, Opera, Safari, etc that forces Windows to force upgrade of IE automatically, as it hinders their business due to the poor support it has for current technology.

Hoping Windows 7 is better received by "Grandmas". But it comes down to the Grandsons. I will still put XP on my Grandma's PC. So M$ needs to "wow" me with Win7 for me to upgrade her.

(but then again, I would also have installed FF for Grandma too )

Qphoria wrote:I'm waiting for a class action lawsuit from FF, Opera, Safari, etc that forces Windows to force upgrade of IE automatically, as it hinders their business due to the poor support it has for current technology.

I look forward to it! It would be nice to see the get sued (again!).

(but then again, I would also have installed FF for Grandma too )

Or, at the very least, updated her IE6 to IE7.

You have to remember that IE6 is NOT a real web browser -- it is merely an extension to a desktop browser that has been modified to support HTML. It's REAL name is "Windows Explorer". M$ had to pay $20 million to use the name "Internet Explorer".

there is a very easy way of adding code to your header to detect the browser veiwing it, and you can detect the version also.

I used to have it on an old website, if it detected a browser thats not supported or not updated, it would ask the user to upgrade and provide a link.

To me that seems like the best solution for people who cant be bothered to update their browser but still expect sites to run on browsers built in the dark ages.

Qphoria wrote:I'm waiting for a class action lawsuit from FF, Opera, Safari, etc that forces Windows to force upgrade of IE automatically, as it hinders their business due to the poor support it has for current technology.

Hoping Windows 7 is better received by "Grandmas". But it comes down to the Grandsons. I will still put XP on my Grandma's PC. So M$ needs to "wow" me with Win7 for me to upgrade her.

(but then again, I would also have installed FF for Grandma too )

True, i would pick XP for my granny anyday, i do have win 7 on my laptop, prebuilt, but XP would be my choice if i was installing fresh OS for someone.

Firefox and google chrome are deff the best...

These are my favourite browsers.
1. Google Chrome
2. Internet Explorer
3. Firefox
4. Opera.

Threads like these just love to bring in the spam bots.