Tag: IE

BT Yahoo! An Outdated Browser

Posted on by Julie

Talking about outdated browsers I’ve been working on a Magento project over the past few months and facing serious styling issues with my clients browser set up.

BT Yahoo!’s browser is custom Internet Explorer based on an outdated version of IE. However the browser reports itself as the most updated version of IE on the system. This means that the browser could be reporting itself as IE8 and in doing so misses any code served specifically to the older software.

What made the problem worse was the inability for us to recreate the situation here as the older version of BT Yahoo!’s browser is no longer available. The only solution to this was to have the client post us the setup disc for installation on a VM.

With this in place we could identify the display issues and with a little help from Firebug and an IE5 – IE7 mindset, we were able to fix the issues.

I’ve not been able to locate usage statistics on BT Yahoo!’s browser, which is a shame as I’m quite interested to know. If the core of this software is based on an outdated IE then this is a serious security issue here – there is a reason the older browsers are replaced over time. The BT Yahoo! browser itself will not work with the latest banking software.

If the response from this browser is that it is IE 7+ then Google’s drop of support message won’t get through. That really is a shame as the power of Google could really help get the message across to all users to keep their software up-to-date.

Internet Explorer 8 Officially Becomes World’s Most-Used Browser

Posted on by Julie

I’m not saying it’s the best browser out there but it’s certainly not the worst.

What the stats are saying though, is that IE8 has become the World’s most used browser.

It is a good sign that there has been widespread take up of the lastest IE browser. I’m hoping this means that users of older browsers such as IE6 are upgrading.

Microsoft supports the recommendation to move off Internet Explorer 6.

“Modern browsers such as Internet Explorer 8 bring benefits for customers and developers alike.”

As both a internet user and developer I say “Here,  here!”

Internet Explorer 8 Officially Becomes World’s Most-Used Browser

Google Drops Support for IE6 – Hurrah!

Posted on by Julie

Happiness is a web developer reading that Google is dropping support for IE6.

That is me this afternoon as I received the news from Google that they will be phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers.

Google will start with their Docs suite and move on to Google Main and Google Calendar. By showing Apps users the message that they should upgrade their browser the number of users on outdated software should certainly fall.

In my opinion, this can only be a good thing; for internet users, for website owners, for web designer/developers, for all.

Holding off on IE 8

Posted on by Julie

I’ve been holding off installing Internet Explorer 8

Why? Well firstly I like to give new software a chance to grow before rushing in. There are enough high tech takers out there who will go through a little pain to make sure they have the latest and greatest as quickly as possible. They will be the first users that will identify the problems that I might face and highlight strengths and weaknesses before I go through a process that will inevitably interrupt my work flow.

As a web designer I need to ensure that I can test websites on the previous versions of IE. My current testing environment uses IE 7 on Vista with Virtual Machine offering IE 7 XP and IE 6. I can also test IE 5.5 when I’m flush with time (I stopped testing for IE 5 last year). Before removing IE7 as my main IE browser I must upgrade my testing environment. Only then can I install IE 8. And before you ask why aren’t I testing IE 8 already – I am. @dazzaontheroad has been on IE 8 since RC1 (you can read his thoughts on IE 8 here).

So with the launch of IE 8 I have at least one more item to add to the to-do list

IE7 Double Padding

Posted on by Julie

I spent a few days in November with an issue of IE7 doubling my top padding. I gave up the job as just one of those things until I had a similar issue today. FF and Safari were working perfectly but IE7 just wouldn’t play nice.

After a destructive nuke session I was no closer to a solution when I remembered that I was using a Dreamweaver CSS layout which adds code for IE conditional comments. At this point the penny dropped and I could see where the extra padding was coming from.

So I know now that when I have IE padding working in strange ways I should check the IE conditional statement to see if there’s anything hidden there.

I can now happily sign off now and look forward to a very happy new year.

What a difference a shave makes!

Posted on by Julie

1 pixel is all it took to make the rain fall. Long and hard it fell today as I searched for the answer to my question, ‘Why does my back ground shift to the left in either Firefox or IE?’ I could fix the problem in one, the other would then come undone.

It seems that all browsers handle centering background images differently. Another Hunter raised the question and then found the answer to the problem at freewaytalk.

What a difference a shave makes!