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[Snoskred]

Please, for the sanity of web designers everywhere, make sure you are using the latest version, which is 7. 

Download it now.

Anyone using IE6 or lower is likely to see things in a way that should never be seen by any human surfing the web.

Alternatively, switch to Firefox, which is quickly becoming the best web browser on the web. And actually processes important things (like CSS etc) properly, unlike IE6 and below.

I am sure other members will join me in BEGGING you to upgrade to 7 or switch to firefox. Some may even suggest other browsers other than Firefox as an alternative, which is excellent also.

You may feel free to pass this message on to the world via your blogs and or any other means you can get messages to the interwebz.

And now back to your regularly scheduled forums. This has been a community service announcement on behalf of all webdesigners everywhere because we don't want to have to worry about how our design is going to look in a FLAWED AND FAULTY browser.  :rgrin: In fact most of us have stopped worrying, which means who knows what the heck you're going to get out there on the web. Whatever it is won't look good.

[Riayn]

For the love of all things good in this world, please, please, please update to IE7!  I hate supporting IE6 users who complain about how things look. It makes me sad. 

[goatlady]

I don't even mind if people use Opera, or Safari on the Mac. Anything except IE6. IE6 is holding the web back from its true potential.

Think of it this way: every time someone fires up IE6, a kitten is murdered. Don't have that on your conscience.

[Meg]

Bad news. I just checked dLook (as a sample of "average users"). Only 50.8 % are using IE7, 49.05 IE 6, and  0.15 IE 4 or 5 

{fixed typo}

[Snoskred]

The stats are even worse on "Scam Warning" - at least they were the last time I checked. Sephy might check them and let me know cos I forgot the login.

[jomar]

Firefox all the way.... The sooner we can say MicroWhat? the better....

[Lani]

Firefox, Opera, Safari, Flock.  IE7 if you really must. Anything but IE6.  They're all free people!

As Snos said, do it for web designers everywhere. And do it for yourselves.  You might be surprised by how great the web looks. 

[Anonymum]

Doesn't matter what version of IE it is, I refuse to use it.
Firefox all the way in this house...
 

[Lani]

Some recent stats...

The state of IE browser share today

It's only across a small sample but results are fairly similar to Meg's.  IE7 only ahead of IE6 by a hair.

It's insane, I tell you!

[Meg]

Of course the figures I quoted was the breakdown for the IE share - which was 82% of total visitors (Firefox only 14.43 %) - even my 73 y.o mum prefers FireFox   

My blog is more what you'd expect - 51.4% IE (62% IE7) and 42% Firefox

[jomar]

Of course the figures I quoted was the breakdown for the IE share - which was 82% of total visitors (Firefox only 14.43 %) - even my 73 y.o mum prefers FireFox   

My blog is more what you'd expect - 51.4% IE (62% IE7) and 42% Firefox

o
When I first started on Firefox a couple of years ago, it was less than 5%. My Geek friends talked me into Firefox. The Geek community was about 90% firefox at that time. I also use foxmarks www.foxmarks.com. It saves your bookmarks, so you can log in on any other computer... and have all your bookmarks.

[masey]

Doesn't matter what version of IE it is, I refuse to use it.
Firefox all the way in this house...
 

AMEN sister!

[Ian]

Its been Firefox here for at least a couple of years.

Only use IE (6) for a couple of applications at work that only work properly in IE (would rather not, but have to if I want to claim my expenses and get the company to pay!)

[CannedTuna]

Corporate wise there will be a forced upgrade of IE 6 to IE 7 from Microsoft soon.   This will just leave the home and small small business computers.  Typically however the average user will only upgrade when they change the computer. So this final percentage will take a number of years to die.

Downloading and upgrading is often too hard from the average joe.

That said I'm with @goatlady, if you know how upgrade from IE6,  leave the past behind.  IE7 is a lot better. 

I would prefer people on Firefox or flock. 

[John Lampard]

In the "old" days (1999-2000) some web designers inserted (largely at the behest of WASP - The Web Standards Project) javascript that would redirect users not using a particular browser, to a page asking them to consider upgrading their browser to something a little more modern.

Code:

<script type="text/javascript">
 {
 var browserName = navigator.appName; browserVer = parseInt ( navigator.appVersion );
 name = "stayhere";
 if ( browserName == "Netscape" && browserVer < 5 ) name="NS5";
 if ( browserName == "Microsoft Internet Explorer" && browserVer <4 ) name="IE4";
 if ( browserName == "Opera" && browserVer <4 ) name="OP4";

 if (name == "NS5")
  document.location= "why_you_should_upgrade_from_Netscape5_or_lower.html";
 else if (name =="IE4")
  document.location= "why_you_should_upgrade_from_Internet_Explorer4_or_lower.html";
 else if (name =="OP4")
  document.location= "why_you_should_upgrade_from_Opera4_or_lower.html";
 }
</script>

I used this for a while back in 2000 or so. Got some complaints in though. Ironically from web designers themselves (who weren't interested in web standards needless to say) who were furious that they could not see my website in their legacy browsers!

This code had obvious limitations being client side javascript, (that is, wouldn't work in browsers with javascript disabled) but I'm sure there are server side options available for those so inclined.

The thinking at the time was web designers had to encourage (read: force) clients and website users into upgrading their browsers by only writing (standards compliant) code that worked properly only in the new browsers!

[goatlady]

Heh, I remember those bad old days, John. In fact I went back through the archives of the WASP site and found a nice summary of what the "Browser Upgrade Campaign" was (BUC - not so catchy, is it?) and why it was retired. It's a good read for anyone who might not realise the extent of the war that us poor web developers have been fighting all these years

Beyond the Browser Upgrade Campaign

And cos it's Australia Day: 

[Snoskred]

Revisiting this topic.. someone asked me about my blog and the button stacking.

If you go to my blog and you see the navigation buttons stacked on top of each other, guess what browser you are using? More than likely IE 6 or below. PLEASE upgrade.



I think we bloggers should hold a GET OFF IE 6 OR BELOW blogging day.

[Ian]

It seems we Australians are leading the pack in Firefox uptake, with 31% compared to low 20s in America, high 20's in Europe and high teens in Asia.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,23136815-5014239,00.html

Firefox usage seems to be over-represented, compared to average, in this forum.   

[Lani]

I've been reading that there will be a "forced" update to IE7 happening soon.

[Anonymum]

We need to make it a mission to rid the world of IE...or at least australia anyway!

[Ben Barden]

First and foremost can I just say that I am a happy Firefox user and IE6 has caused me many, many headaches.  However, there are some things to be aware of here.

1. You cannot upgrade IE6 if you are using a version of Windows older than XP.  Yes, you can use Firefox, but switching browsers is a lot harder for non-technical people than upgrading.  I know people who use IE6 and tried Firefox - they didn't like it.  Went back to IE6.  Some people do not want to change their browser - these are the toughest people to deal with!
2. "Forced upgrades" often do not affect businesses.  IT staff hold back on the updates and release them when it suits them.  This happened with security updates at a company I used to work for and I have heard of many others who do it too.
3. IE6 is not the only browser that causes problems.  Some people still use Netscape (which will cease to exist soon).  Some people use Safari - and when it comes to things such as WYSIWYG editing, Safari is just not up to the job.  Comparatively speaking IE6 fares better than Safari in this area, not that it does it well.  Just so you know what I'm on about, vbulletin uses WYSIWYG for posting (although you can disable that if you wish).  I even encountered a similar problem with that when someone asked me why the WYSIWYG editor didn't work.  They were using Firefox 1.0.  Later versions of Firefox are better than 1.0.
4. Some people simply refuse to download any upgrades to their PCs as they don't like change, or their computers are so old and slow that they think it would kill the computer.  The solution?  Upgrade your PC!!
5. As for sites that will suddenly look better outside of IE6... don't bet on it.  I have seen lots of real estate websites, business websites, banking websites and many others that just don't work in Firefox.  This is a widespread problem and I think the website owners should take responsibility for fixing the sites before people switch browsers - otherwise they're just going to ditch the new browser and go back to their old ways.  I tried this with some of my friends and they visited some of their favourite sites, only to find they didn't work in Firefox.  Beware!!

I work for a software company and the vast majority of our customers use IE6, so we make an effort to make our site work in IE6.  Now, as I'm tech staff, I could just contact them all and suggest that they install Firefox... but they pay the company for telephone support, so who do you think is going to get all the calls when they can't figure out how to use Firefox?

Now don't get me wrong, I do not think people should stay on IE6 forever.  However, I'd be surprised if much changes for a good year or two.  What really needs to happen is for people to upgrade their ancient computers and get something current.  That would solve their computer problems as well as their browser problems.

[Lani]

I think people like me who have computers made of ancient junk parts are probably harder to shift than the diehard IE6ers.  After all, browsers are free. 

[Katie]

I use Firefox and only Firefox. I can't stand IE. 

[Lani]

My stats report for The Cerebral Mum was sent through today and it was interesting.  Browser share was

82.66% Firefox
15.79% IE

There rest were obviously negligible.  And there were 3680 uniques, so it wasn't just you guys.  I guess Firefox is the browser of choice for StumbleUpon users.

But of those IE users, 38% were on IE6 or lower.   

[Jaycee]

My stats report for The Cerebral Mum was sent through today and it was interesting.  Browser share was

82.66% Firefox
15.79% IE

There rest were obviously negligible.  And there were 3680 uniques, so it wasn't just you guys.  I guess Firefox is the browser of choice for StumbleUpon users.

But of those IE users, 38% were on IE6 or lower.   

Our web stats at work indicate that IE is the browser of choice, but then IE is the browser that is standard on our desktops and in computer pools so that would skew things. I think bloggers generally use Firefox which is why you're getting these stats.

I also think that many people who buy a computer rarely, if at all, update their web browser (non-bloggers of course). They probably don't know how.