How the alert on Internet Explorer affects the design of your website

Dinesh Fernando — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:08:36 +0000

The German Government has taken the unprecedented step of warning its citizens to avoid using Microsoft`s Internet Explorer.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=3210429&

This was prompted by the publication on the Internet of what is effectively a hacker`s recipe book for malicious websites to install all kinds of unwelcome software on a PC using Internet Explorer. This is software that slows down your PC and could steal passwords and personal information.

Microsoft themselves have recognized the security flaw and are working on a patch that won`t be released until 9th February 2010. In the mean time both the German and French governments are advising their citizens to steer well clear.

These days Microsoft`s Internet Explorer is less and less important with excellent rivals FireFox and Google’s new Chrome browser eating into its market share. At the time of writing less than 50% of all web users now use Internet Explorer.

http://www.webgrowth.co.uk/latest-browser-market-share.php

The publicity around the German and French warning means that Internet Explorer`s market share looks set to fall even further which also means a few extra grey hairs for any conscientious web developer. Your website should always be developed and checked for the major browsers FireFox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari and Opera as there can be marked differences in how the same page displays. As long as the pages are developed using good coding practice then most issues can be fixed without too much hair tearing!

The browser that will not die

Dinesh Fernando — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:37:42 +0000

Much to our regret, Internet Explorer 6 is still being used by nearly 23% of Internet users. As a simple interface for viewing web pages it does a job, however it also leaves your computer vulnerable to all sorts of Malware, viruses and other Internet nasties that slow down your computer and allow hackers to steal your personal data.

For web developers and website owners this also presents a real headache as web pages looking great in one browser can look terrible in other browsers. Currently we check all our new websites with Internet Explorer versions 6,7 and 8, FireFox and Google Chrome. There are small differences in the way they behave but the most marked is with IE 6.

So please spread the word and tell your friends, family and colleagues to ditch IE 6 by upgrading to IE 7 or 8. Better still, try out FireFox or Google Chrome, which are faster and much more secure.

See the latest browser market share on our website.

Web Growth Consulting Blog » FireFox

How the alert on Internet Explorer affects the design of your website

The browser that will not die