Why I Dislike Internet Explorer 6.0 So Much

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Web designers have to make sure that our designs appear correctly in all of the different browsers that people might use to view their website in. So here’s the question: why can different browsers display the same website differently?

(Note: I’m intentionally ignoring Safari in the following discussion. Safari usage is only around 2%, owing to the niche market for Apple and Mac products.)

The Background

The answer to my question is has to do with how a browser interprets the HTML and CSS code that websites are built with. (As a brief refresher, HTML is what web pages are written in, while CSS is used to separate look from content.)

An organization called the World Wide Web Consortium develops web standards to help ensure the long-term growth of the web. Amongst many other things, these include standards for how CSS and HTML should be interpreted by browsers.

So theoretically, all browsers should interpret programming language the same way, right? Yes and no. Fortunately, most browsers do so; Firefox, Safari, and IE 7.0 all display pages (i.e., interpret the coding, i.e., adhere to web standards) the same.

(Before I continue, I should note that Microsoft – makers of Internet Explorer; the Mozilla Foundation – makers of Firefox; and Apple – makers of Safari; are all members of the consortium.)

The problem browser is IE 6.0, which doesn’t adhere as strictly to the web standards (and therefore doesn’t interpret our design coding) as the others do. So designers always have some extra work cut out for them to get their websites to appear in this particular browser as it does in other popular browsers.

And, we know that this work is necessary due to the widespread usage of IE 6.0. Most computers two years old or more are likely running it. IE 7.0 is still fairly recent, so a lot of people haven’t upgraded to it yet. This is evidenced by the fact that almost 25% of Internet users in 2008 are still using IE 6.0, even though it is already over six years old, compared to around the same percentage of those using IE 7.0.

So, the problem is not going away any time soon, but fortunately for designers, Microsoft learned its lesson and is starting to develop their browsers so that they do strictly adhere to web standards.

But how did they learn their lesson? Here’s a little history lesson to help explain.

The Quick History Lesson

By the early 2000′s, Microsoft had won the browser wars (anyone remember Netscape?) to become the dominant browser on the market. In late 2003, almost 85% of Internet users were using some version of IE.

Firefox was the up-and-comer, so Mozilla had to differentiate itself to get people to notice it. That’s why you saw new innovations in their browser, such as tabbed browsing, which is a hugely popular feature. Firefox also adhered to web standards much stricter than IE 6.0 did – another reason why it became more popular with designers than IE.

Microsoft, on the other hand, was more complacent – both in incorporating new features and in strictly adhering to web standards. And why shouldn’t they have been? The vast majority of Internet users were utilizing their product, and they had no real motivation to change anything.

But since IE 6.0 was released (back in 2002), there has been huge growth in usage of Firefox as an alternative browser. In 2008, almost 40% of Internet users are using Firefox, compared to 53% who use some version of IE – and the gap keeps decreasing steadily.

So where Microsoft was once the dominant force on the browser market, now they are playing catch-up. That’s why you see tabbed browsing and stricter standards compliance in IE 7.0 when it was released in 2006, and why you will see that as well in IE 8.0, due to be released this year.

The Solution

So how do I test that my work looks the same in IE 6.0 as it does across all other browsers?

• For starters, I use Firefox as my default browser
• My computer came with IE 7.0 installed, so I have that readily available to use
• I use Safari for Windows provided by Apple
• I use a standalone version of IE 6.0 to test in that browser (the program allows me to have multiple versions of IE running on my computer with no problems)

There are also websites, such as Browser Shots, that can be used to test for more obscure browsers that aren’t as popular.

The End

So that’s the end of this overview of a problem I confront as a designer. Now, next time I tell you I’m frustrated because something won’t work right in a particular browser, you’ll know what I mean!

And, if you’re still running IE 6.0, please upgrade!

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