Microsoft madness and IE 8
Gaaaaaaaaahhhhh! There must be something in the drinking water in Redmond.
Presently I test in IE versions 6 and 7, and also test without a DOCTYPE to put those browsers into quirks mode (to emulate visitors from Google cache). Now comes IE 8 to add to the mix.
IE 8 has not just two modes, but - count 'em - three. There's standards mode and quirks mode, just as with IE 6 and 7. But they encourage visitors to switch to "Compatibility view" - ostensibly to emulate the buggy IE 7 behavior. But this mode is not the same behavior as IE 7, according to this post from isolani.co.uk.
Double your testing time estimates, folks.
Cordially, David
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delete from internet where user_agent="MSIE" and version < 8;
pr0gr4mm3r posted this at 03:51 — 13th February 2009.
He has: 1,502 posts
Joined: Sep 2006
I can't say I'm surprised. I just hope that the mainstream soon realize that IE is crap, and they need to look to more standards compliant options.
decibel.places posted this at 04:32 — 13th February 2009.
He has: 1,494 posts
Joined: Jun 2008
Many users cannot control what software they use.
And many, many others don't know/don't care.
Don't wait for humanity to "get smart" about web technology - won't happen.
On another note - I am working with the Drupal Tapestry theme which has "suckerfish" menus. I thought the point of suckerfish was browser compatibility. Had to add separate stylesheets for IE6 AND IE7
(did not check in IE8)
pr0gr4mm3r posted this at 14:00 — 13th February 2009.
He has: 1,502 posts
Joined: Sep 2006
IE's market share is steadily dropping.
decibel.places posted this at 14:42 — 13th February 2009.
He has: 1,494 posts
Joined: Jun 2008
I doubt if it will drop to the point of irrelevance.
These browser stats from W3Schools show IE combined with almost 45% (same as Firefox...)
pr0gr4mm3r posted this at 15:21 — 13th February 2009.
He has: 1,502 posts
Joined: Sep 2006
The fact that they are equal is a huge improvement compared to several years ago.
I don't think it will be at the point of irrelevance anytime soon either, but it might get to the point, the MS will finally realize that what they are doing isn't working.
Megan posted this at 19:24 — 13th February 2009.
She has: 11,421 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
Emphasis added.
That's the worst part IMO - they're encouraging people to switch to IE 7 mode??? Well, what good is that? We had enough of a battle to get them to not make that the default mode. Now they're undermining all those efforts by telling people to use IE 7 mode anyway. Great.
This is why progressive enhancement and conditional comments are the way to go.
Megan
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silverwing posted this at 23:21 — 13th February 2009.
He has: 79 posts
Joined: May 2008
Maybe Microsoft will fire the old IE developers and hire young people who will 1) work a bit cheaper, and 2) know what web standards are.
~silverwing
zinzinny | Misguided Thoughts | showcaseCMS
decibel.places posted this at 23:45 — 13th February 2009.
He has: 1,494 posts
Joined: Jun 2008
sure...
when pigs fly...
when hell freezes over...
when the United States has an educated and compassionate president...
(1 out of 3 ain't bad)
silverwing posted this at 23:53 — 13th February 2009.
He has: 79 posts
Joined: May 2008
(1 out of 3 ain't bad)
Pigs can fly????
I heard they can wear lipstick...
~silverwing - hater of all politicians
webwiz posted this at 01:11 — 14th February 2009.
He has: 629 posts
Joined: May 2007
Hmm. Now that's a thought. If "compatibility mode" differs from IE 7, as the author of the article I quoted claims, just which conditional comments does that mode use? Time to do some experiments, methinks.
Cordially, David
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delete from internet where user_agent="MSIE" and version < 8;
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