Save the Developers! Upgrade Your Browser
Posted by Selene M. Bowlby on March 26th, 2008 /
Thanks to @womanchild on Twitter for posting this link. I love the concept!
Save The Developers is promoting a campaign for everyone to…
Say NO to IE6!
Our current campaign focuses on assisting users in upgrading their Internet Explorer 6 web browser. This campaign will result in former IE 6 users having a more enjoyable experience on the web while (hopefully) creating a less stressful and complicated environment for web developers by hastening the retirement of an outdated browser.
A Massive Time-Suck
My goodness, the countless hours that could be saved if IE6 wasn’t still such a popular web browser. It just does not comply to all of the current web standards, making life difficult for web developers all over the world.
What looks good in just about all of the other web browsers - IE7 included - often degrades terribly on IE6. Which is a major time-suck for web designers / developers everywhere.
As web developers, we have to appeal to the masses and spend the time trying to make it work across the board. We either have to loose features or have to come up with crazy hacks, etc. All because so many people are still using IE6, so therefore we still have to cater to it.
Current Statistics
According to W3Schools - February 2008 statistics show that:
- 30% of online users are still using IE6
- 22% are using IE7
- 36% are using Firefox
- everything else is 2% or less
I’m glad to see the Firefox numbers rising, but am really disappointed that IE6 is still so popular. I would have thought the percentage of IE7 users would have at least been equal to the percentage of IE6 users.
Clearly there really is need for the Save The Developers campaign.
Please Upgrade!
So, if you are still using Internet Explorer 6 - or know anyone that does…
Please upgrade your browser! You can upgrade to Internet Explorer 7, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari or Opera. Anything BUT Internet Explorer 6, LOL.
IE8 is in the works, btw… the beta is already out, though I have not tried it yet.
Just for the Record…
Firefox is my browser of choice, although I’ve recently discovered Flock - also by Mozilla - which will likely soon be my new favorite.
Flock - known as “The Social Web Browser” - has all of the same standards support as Firefox. However it incorporates many tools that help integrate the browser with several of the more popular social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Del.icio.us, etc. New post on this coming up soon, btw.
Anyway, go check out savethedevelopers.org… If your a web designer / developer, please promote it! If you’re a web user and still using IE6…
Please upgrade! Thank you!
Follow-Up Post: Taking a Personal Stand
I wrote the post below a couple weeks after publishing this one. I hope you’ll join me - at least on your personal sites (I understand we have to deal with IE6 at least for client sites…)
Tags: ie6, save the developers, web browsers, Web Design, web development, web standards
March 26th, 2008
I just stopped by your blog and thought I would say hello. I like your site design. Looking forward to reading more down the road.
Robert Michel
March 27th, 2008
I’m glad it made it into a great post.
March 27th, 2008
I feel your pain Selene. The company that I work for during the day is a little slow in getting things upgraded…even things as simple as IE. Our website uses Joomla for CMS and I’ll tell you what…IE jacks it all up. I had to create specific CSS files for IE6 and IE7 just to get it to display correctly.
I don’t know if you use it or not, but I’ve posted links to the Web Developer plugin for Firefox on my site…it’s a HUGE help.
http://www.grandmasterb.com/my-web-development-tools-part-two/
March 27th, 2008
soo true.. i spend hours, and even days trying to figure out what’s wrong with ie6. Thanks for writing such a great article.. i hope everyone reads it and upgrade.. or use firefox instead of ie..
March 28th, 2008
@Robert Michael - Thanks I’m glad you like the blog! Hope you’ll stick around for more!
@Diana - Yes, thank you so much for twittering that link! I’m very glad I found it, as it’s a great cause!
@Bryan - I really am surprised by the large percentage of IE users - I had thought with Windows Updater that more people would have just been automatically upgraded to IE7.
I do have the Web Developer plugin for Firefox, but thanks for posting the link on your site - hopefully it will help out other designers that don’t have it!
@val - LOL, my vote is they all switch to Firefox!
March 29th, 2008
March 29th, 2008
I love Firefox. It is soooo much faster.
March 29th, 2008
@val / @9milemom - Firefox users unite! LOL
Flock really is cool isn’t it? Maybe I should say - Mozilla users unite! That way we cover all bases.
April 2nd, 2008
I’m glad to see you posting about Flock. It’s been unjustly neglected for too long.
April 2nd, 2008
I started using Flock a few weeks ago. I was tired of having login problem with Firefox 2 and still the same with the new beta. Once I get all my bookmark things and browser bars and add ons moved over to Flock I will be truly converted.
April 3rd, 2008
@Joshua & @Laura - I’m glad to see more Flock users! I had heard the name on and off for a while, but never thought much of it. I’m so glad that I finally downloaded it. It’s my favorite browser now, lol.
Another benefit is that all of the Firefox add ons work well with Flock too. If you’re already a Firefox user and are into social media… there’s no reason not to give it a try!