What Internet Browser Do You Use?

Posted by Norm on February 23, 2009

Microsoft won the browser wars several years ago when their Internet Explore browser essentially put Netscape out of business.  But if you are still using Internet Explore version 6 (IE6), it is time to upgrade.  What most casual users do not know is that IE6 has more bugs than a spotlight in a swamp.   It is the least standards compliant and causes significant headaches for web designers.  Now some large web sites are fighting back.  If you go to their web site using IE6 or an older browser, they will remind you to upgrade and notify you that the web site is designed for standards compliant web browsers.

The first MS browser, IE1.0, was introduced in 1995.  Version upgrades came along fast and furious to correct problems and security vulnerabilities.  IE6 was introduced along with the MS XP operating system in late 2001.   Although it fixed many of the standards problems, it introduced many more.

The current version of the Microsoft browser, IE7, was introduced when they released their new operating system Vista in late 2006.  Most problems were corrected in this release, but a whole new problem was created.  A web site viewed in IE6 and IE7 didn’t look the same.

Web designers and developers came up with a number of code “hacks” to try and provide a similar web site view in each browser.  Around the same time a new browser, FireFox, started to get usage, primarily by tech savvy folks.  FireFox was a fully standards compliant browser born out of the ashes of Netscape.  So now web sites had to be hacked so they looked the same in IE6, IE7 and FireFox.

It takes a web designer more time to code and hack a web site so it can be viewed in all browsers.  Even with coded hacks the web sites will not appear the same in all browsers, but they will look OK.

Microsoft has issued it’s next generation web browser as a “beta test” version.  That means that hundreds of web designers and developers are using IE8 and notifying Microsoft of problems and bugs.  Best guess right now is that it will be launched within the next 6-8 weeks.

If you are still using IE6, it might be in your best interest to upgrade your eight year old browser now to IE7.  Most new web sites are giving up on the extra work required to accommodate IE6.

For some, going through any type of upgrade on a Microsoft product can bring fear and frustration .  If you are one of these people who may have been burnt before, there is another answer to getting rid of IE6.  Install FireFox.

You can go to their download page by clicking on this button.  Once you download the install file, all you have to do is click on the file.  It will go through its auto-install process and in no time at all you will be up and running with FireFox.

If you are using IE6, you are probably still using the MS XP operation system.  Ultimately, you can simply keep doing what you are doing until it’s time to replace your PC.  Eventually, IE6 will be all but gone.  In the mean time, don’t get mad if some newer web sites don’t look quite right.