If you care about me at all
Please. Please. If you care about me at all. Do not use Internet Explorer. If you are using it now, please, please, go download and install Firefox, Opera or Safari.
Please, please. If you like using the internet, do not use Internet Explorer. Seriously. If you care about the web, don't use it. I compare this to recycling. And it is a perfect metaphor. We recycle so that way the world will be a better place in the future. Don't use Internet Explorer so that the web will be a better place in the future.
When you have millions of computers communicating across the world, you have to agree on a way to communicate. When you have millions of browsers accessing these resources, you have to agree on how they are going to display and interact with it. These are what web standards are for. Standards define a standard way of doing things. By using standards I can trust that my website is going to work for everyone.
Internet Explorer is used by 75% of the world. Not because it is a better browser or because people choose to use it, but because it comes pre-installed on Windows. Because it has such a large market-share, it likes to do things in non-standards ways that will help it maintain this market-share and make it money.
A couple examples:
When they came out with their new browser plug-in called, Silverlight, they wrote from scratch a 2D animation engine. When there are already two standards supported 2D rendering engines out there already implemented by other browsers. Whereas you could use the same code for everything thing, they want you to write your code in Silverlight so you are committed to their platform.
And this is the real kicker. People have been working on an updated version of Javascript, the language that makes websites interactive. Microsoft originally said they would work with this. Well, now it is coming out that Microsoft higher ups don't want to do it this way and are writing their own implementation. This would basically make you write two versions of websites, one that works with IE and one that works with everyone else.
Microsoft needs to be knocked off of their high horse that is Internet Explorer.
This isn't about me not liking Microsoft or me liking Apple or Linux. This is about us having the choice to use whatever browser we want to. It is also about things moving forward in the web area, so that we as web developers can do even more cool things.
It doesn't matter even if you think Internet Explorer is a better browser. Because Internet Explorer has the market share they can do things how they want to and they don't have to care how everyone else does it. If they didn't have the market share they would have to play along. So, even if you like IE better, don't use it—until it doesn't have the majority of the market share.
Please. Please.
2 November 2007 09:23pm UTC • 1038 views • 5 comments
Tagged with internetexplorer, webdevelopment, internet, request
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5 comments
Peon Peetie
3 November 2007 03:55am UTC
word to that.
Steve the Interloper
3 November 2007 04:09am UTC
I'm always shocked when I realize people still use Explorer.
But then, I live in a bubble.
Peon Peetie
3 November 2007 05:06am UTC
interloper, i couldn't agree more (about the first part... i'm not so sure about your bubble. is it comfortable? do you often argue about the spellings of moops and moors?). every time i see someone using IE, not only does my heart stop, and my life lose a few years, but i tend to stare in disbelief that people still use that excuse for software. at least the others are growing in marketshare. and only 4.54% of visitors of my site use it.
Boots
4 November 2007 06:03am UTC
I must care about you then!
Peon Peetie
28 November 2007 09:15am UTC
other people feel the same way!