Comments on: Browsers I rather not support http://nickcowie.com/2009/browsers-i-rather-not-support/ Web standards, accessibility and such like with a bias toward Government web sites Mon, 21 May 2012 14:57:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Ben Buchanan http://nickcowie.com/2009/browsers-i-rather-not-support/comment-page-1/#comment-37509 Ben Buchanan Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:44:22 +0000 http://nickcowie.com/?p=395#comment-37509 The browsers on my hit list this year: Firefox 2 and IE6. FF2 will just get dropped since its share has plummeted (and if you can install FF2 you should be able to upgrade). Getting rid of FF2 clears the way for proper use of display:inline-block which is awesome. IE6 has too big and persistent a share to drop it outright; but I'm moving it to second tier support. Things will be made functional, but I'm no longer going to spend large amounts of time making things perfect in IE6. A bug that can be easily fixed with a minor visual difference will be fixed that easy/quick way. If an advanced feature breaks IE6, IE6 will get a cleanly degraded version. Stuff like that. The browsers on my hit list this year: Firefox 2 and IE6.

FF2 will just get dropped since its share has plummeted (and if you can install FF2 you should be able to upgrade). Getting rid of FF2 clears the way for proper use of display:inline-block which is awesome.

IE6 has too big and persistent a share to drop it outright; but I’m moving it to second tier support. Things will be made functional, but I’m no longer going to spend large amounts of time making things perfect in IE6. A bug that can be easily fixed with a minor visual difference will be fixed that easy/quick way. If an advanced feature breaks IE6, IE6 will get a cleanly degraded version. Stuff like that.

]]> By: moritz http://nickcowie.com/2009/browsers-i-rather-not-support/comment-page-1/#comment-37470 moritz Mon, 12 Jan 2009 07:55:49 +0000 http://nickcowie.com/?p=395#comment-37470 I should sometimes read twice to get the version numbers right.. my fault :-) I should sometimes read twice to get the version numbers right.. my fault :-)

]]> By: Nick http://nickcowie.com/2009/browsers-i-rather-not-support/comment-page-1/#comment-37469 Nick Mon, 12 Jan 2009 01:24:51 +0000 http://nickcowie.com/?p=395#comment-37469 Moritz, I am not dropping Safari support. I am choosing not to support older versions of Safari, before Safari 3 that was released in mid 2007. Safari users like Firefox users tend to update to the latest version fairly quickly. Of the 700+ visitors to the site in the past couple of months using Safari, only 5 used Safari 2 and 1 used version 1.32 (the latest version for 10.3). The work site stats are slightly higher, but not by much. The webki/khtml engine used by Safari is also used by the Nokia S60 browsers. The most popular mobile browser on the planet and one I do not have a test device for. So I do pay attention in getting it right for Safari. Nick H, thanks for that, had not really explored IE8b2, other than finally installing a Vista VM on my MBP with IE8b2 for testing. Moritz, I am not dropping Safari support. I am choosing not to support older versions of Safari, before Safari 3 that was released in mid 2007. Safari users like Firefox users tend to update to the latest version fairly quickly. Of the 700+ visitors to the site in the past couple of months using Safari, only 5 used Safari 2 and 1 used version 1.32 (the latest version for 10.3). The work site stats are slightly higher, but not by much.

The webki/khtml engine used by Safari is also used by the Nokia S60 browsers. The most popular mobile browser on the planet and one I do not have a test device for. So I do pay attention in getting it right for Safari.

Nick H, thanks for that, had not really explored IE8b2, other than finally installing a Vista VM on my MBP with IE8b2 for testing.

]]> By: Nick Hodge http://nickcowie.com/2009/browsers-i-rather-not-support/comment-page-1/#comment-37468 Nick Hodge Sun, 11 Jan 2009 22:13:01 +0000 http://nickcowie.com/?p=395#comment-37468 For those working on IE; note that IE8b2 has Developer Menu. Interested in feedback; with the IE7 "render switch" -- hopefully this helps you guys out. If not, please tell me Nick For those working on IE; note that IE8b2 has Developer Menu.

Interested in feedback; with the IE7 “render switch” — hopefully this helps you guys out.

If not, please tell me

Nick

]]> By: moritz http://nickcowie.com/2009/browsers-i-rather-not-support/comment-page-1/#comment-37467 moritz Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:43:03 +0000 http://nickcowie.com/?p=395#comment-37467 hey, just found your post and .. I agree with you, almost. I'm afraid that dropping Safari support is a) unnecessary, because from my experiences, it's not hard to optimise.. it works mostly and b) doesn't take into consideration that macs market share is growing.. and growing. And keep in mind, iphone also uses safari, and it's available for windows. Besides, great post. hey, just found your post and .. I agree with you, almost. I’m afraid that dropping Safari support is a) unnecessary, because from my experiences, it’s not hard to optimise.. it works mostly and b) doesn’t take into consideration that macs market share is growing.. and growing. And keep in mind, iphone also uses safari, and it’s available for windows.

Besides, great post.

]]> By: Still include IE6 support when creating a Web Application? | Moritz Haarmann's Blog http://nickcowie.com/2009/browsers-i-rather-not-support/comment-page-1/#comment-37466 Still include IE6 support when creating a Web Application? | Moritz Haarmann's Blog Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:39:10 +0000 http://nickcowie.com/?p=395#comment-37466 [...] On the other hand, I guess that most people using really modern WebApps are nevertheless forced to use modern browsers. I don’t know, really not. A short yet true list of cons is presented here as well, and a rather radical point of view presented by nick cowie. [...] […] On the other hand, I guess that most people using really modern WebApps are nevertheless forced to use modern browsers. I don’t know, really not. A short yet true list of cons is presented here as well, and a rather radical point of view presented by nick cowie. […]

]]> By: Nick http://nickcowie.com/2009/browsers-i-rather-not-support/comment-page-1/#comment-37465 Nick Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:46:56 +0000 http://nickcowie.com/?p=395#comment-37465 John, I was just trying to understand why more than 10% of Firefox visitors to this site still used Firefox 2, compared to less than 5% to my work site during November and December. I disabled compatibility checking for my extensions when I started using Firefox 3 beta a while back and never turned it back on. I remembered Firebug and Web Developer Toolbar kept coming up on compatibility checks as I swapped between Firefox 2, 3 and 3.1beta. So I assumed it was these developer tools that kept some of the Firefox visitors to this site to version 2. Just checked figures for the past few weeks and that difference has almost disappeared, it is close to 8% for both sites. ps the web dev toolbar now works for Firefox 3 and 3.1 beta on the Mac. John, I was just trying to understand why more than 10% of Firefox visitors to this site still used Firefox 2, compared to less than 5% to my work site during November and December.

I disabled compatibility checking for my extensions when I started using Firefox 3 beta a while back and never turned it back on. I remembered Firebug and Web Developer Toolbar kept coming up on compatibility checks as I swapped between Firefox 2, 3 and 3.1beta. So I assumed it was these developer tools that kept some of the Firefox visitors to this site to version 2.

Just checked figures for the past few weeks and that difference has almost disappeared, it is close to 8% for both sites.

ps the web dev toolbar now works for Firefox 3 and 3.1 beta on the Mac.

]]> By: John Faulds http://nickcowie.com/2009/browsers-i-rather-not-support/comment-page-1/#comment-37464 John Faulds Sun, 11 Jan 2009 08:31:14 +0000 http://nickcowie.com/?p=395#comment-37464 <blockquote>Apparently web geeks are twice as likely to stick with Firefox 2 than the average Firefox user, probably something to do with the trusty web developer toolbar.</blockquote> The webdev toolbar works in Firefox 3 (at least on Windows).

Apparently web geeks are twice as likely to stick with Firefox 2 than the average Firefox user, probably something to do with the trusty web developer toolbar.

The webdev toolbar works in Firefox 3 (at least on Windows).

]]> By: Nick Hodge http://nickcowie.com/2009/browsers-i-rather-not-support/comment-page-1/#comment-37463 Nick Hodge Sun, 11 Jan 2009 05:52:54 +0000 http://nickcowie.com/?p=395#comment-37463 Nick I notice when looking at stats on my personal blog that: - Firefox 2.x has largely been replaced by Firefox 3.0.x - Firefox users are good at accepting the updates and staying at the latest version - IE6 continues to drop (thank goodness) - The sooner IE6 is replaced by IE7; or better yet, IE8, the world will be a better place(tm) - Yes, I've taken the public (ie: at WebJam) digs about Windows Mobile's sucky browser relative to the competition. The only way is up! Thanks for a balanced and pragmatic review. Nick Nick

I notice when looking at stats on my personal blog that:

- Firefox 2.x has largely been replaced by Firefox 3.0.x
– Firefox users are good at accepting the updates and staying at the latest version

- IE6 continues to drop (thank goodness)

- The sooner IE6 is replaced by IE7; or better yet, IE8, the world will be a better place™

- Yes, I’ve taken the public (ie: at WebJam) digs about Windows Mobile’s sucky browser relative to the competition. The only way is up!

Thanks for a balanced and pragmatic review.

Nick

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