Comments on:

By: Joen

Joen — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:53:25 +0000

Joel,

pretty much everything you can do in Firefox you can do in IE6 with a bit of extra effort through extra css and javascript hacks for transparency.

"pretty much" and "extra effort" are the key words here. Yes, pretty much (but certainly not everything) can be made to work in IE6, if we account for 99% of all the webpages out there. But what about fancy CSS2 and CSS3 features? Most of those allow for super advanced features that IE6 comes nowhere near. Also, extra effort -- depending on the web project -- can translate to considerable extra effort. Not only that, but sometimes the very weight of having to make things work in IE6 means developers have to sacrifice features. So I totally disagree with you on that point.

having a website display in it

By: joel

joel — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:37:23 +0000

While I understand entirely your view on not testing in IE6 I think it is a bit lazy; pretty much everything you can do in Firefox you can do in IE6 with a bit of extra effort through extra css and javascript hacks for transparency. Having a website display in it's pixel perfect form across all the currently used browsers is what all clients want for their websites and is what they pay money for and I think people would be put out if they thought that someone wouldn't bother making a site look correct in IE6 just because it was more difficult.

By: Jonathan Hollin

Jonathan Hollin — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:14:14 +0000

Nice one Joen. I must admit that I haven't tested my websites in IE6 for some time. In fact, I very rarely test in even the latest version(s) of IE. I try to make my websites as standards-compliant as possible, I style with CSS and I endeavour to avoid fancy tricks where possible. If my sites render badly in IE (but they're okay in Safari, Opera, Firefox, etc.) then I couldn't care less, regardless of IE's market share - I've done my bit, the rest is down to the browser developers.

By: Joen

Joen — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:50:33 +0000

Maybe you should start a club :)

This guy already did ;)

By: Bramick

Bramick — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:48:18 +0000

I was impressed by the bold move back when you enacted the no IE6 policy.

Maybe you should start a club :)

By: Noscope at IE Death March

Noscope at IE Death March — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:35:53 +0000

[...] http://noscope.com/journal/2008/08/ditching-ie6 [...]

By: duan

duan — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 11:44:22 +0000

You expressed what i felt about internet explorer!

I fell in love with firefox the moment my sister introduced it to me

I like the layout and the tab browsing with over 10 tabs and it doesn’t lag at all.

Best part about firefox is the NoScript firefox extension which block all unknown script which means that it is safe from spywares and adwares

Well download it and im sure you’ll love it

By: Thom

Thom — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:50:59 +0000

Good decision. My feeling is that blocking anyone's access to a website is a bad idea. I think it sends the wrong message - too similar to sites that used to stop you from viewing them in anything but IE or all of the crummy Flash-based sites nowadays that have no alternative viewing mode. Oddly, I'm commenting in IE7. I switched over from Firefox to see what it looked like before realizing that I don't have access to a single computer with IE6...

By: Joen

Joen — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:14:40 +0000

Michael, I remember you ditching IE6 in favor of transparent backgrounds a while ago. I think subconsciusly that must've influenced me. Nonetheless I share your joy in not worrying bout IE6. Alexander,

Besides, people who are genuinely interested in your website and the topics you write about probably aren

By: Dave Child

Dave Child — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:48:41 +0000

It is really difficult to get the balance right. If everyone worked hard to ensure everything worked in IE6, nobody would ever move on. But on the other hand, people are perfectly entitled to use IE6 if they want, however bad it is. I'm leaning towards stripping css for IE6 on my site soon too, but that'll probably now wait until the next round of design. Like the nice big logo though. No leaving any room for ambiguity :). Planning to turn it into a poster too?

By: Alexander Graf

Alexander Graf — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:37:28 +0000

As a webdesigner, I believe you made a very good choice. First and foremost, Internet Explorer 6 is an old beast that, unfortunately, still rears its ugly head. Educating users to update this archaic piece of software or switch to a better browser altogether is very important.

Besides, people who are genuinely interested in your website and the topics you write about probably aren’t typical IE6 users.

By: Michael Heilemann

Michael Heilemann — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:13:08 +0000

I stopped supporting IE (all versions) on my site when I did Invader about a year and a half ago or so, and it was the best thing I did for my own health with that site since I started it. But then, my site is entirely a hobby project, since I don't do any freelancing, so I obviously don't have to consider the same things that you do. But in the 'blogosphere' community it's still something of a hot-button topic I think; at least I got several mails from people on the subject. But I never once regretted having done it. It sounds so hauty-tauty, but I don't even consider IE when I do design these days; even the stuff I do for Habari. I'm of course fortunate that I'm on OS X, and thus simply don't have access to the damned thing. But even if I did, I wouldn't spend more than an hour or two adjusting for it, simply in the name of being progressive about the web. IE7 is better, but it still isn't good, and in a perfect world I honestly think Microsoft should be punished for their ass-backwards attitude to the web by having all web designers dumping support for all their browers by tomorrow, until they shape up their game. Amazingly, my new design works 95% in IE7, which means I won't be ditching it just now. But the moment it causes me any frustration, I'll cut off its hand faster than you can say: "Is the CSS 3 spec ever going to be finished?" Thank Science that Mozilla and Apple are implementing stuff like rounded corners on their own so we don't have to be stuck in 2002.