Save the Developers! Upgrade Your Browser
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…)
About the Author
Selene M. Bowlby is a web designer and front-end web developer with over ten years of professional experience in the design industry. As the owner of iDesign Studios she specializes in creating custom web sites for other businesses. more » 
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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
I’m glad it made it into a great post.
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/
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..
@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!
I love Firefox. It is soooo much faster.
@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.
I’m glad to see you posting about Flock. It’s been unjustly neglected for too long.
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.
@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!
Great post, I totally agree. Visitors to my site using IE are prompted to upgrade to Firefox. Sure would save me a lot of time and hair! And thanks for the link to Flock, this is the first I’ve heard of it. Please keep up the great work.
I really don’t like ie6 too!!
Anywhere, do you know why http://www.savethedevelopers.org/ is now just redirecting to IE7 home page??
For all, who hate IE 6, read this…
http://www.friskdesign.com/2009/04/20/why-i-support-ie6/
Great post…
At our company, security is a top priority, and as such our service does not support IE6. However, we understand that some people at work have no other option other than IE6. As a response, we created a document for them to send to their IT guys which outlines reasons why they should offer an alternative to IE6.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/17681961/Why-Your-Company-Should-Offer-an-Alternative-to-IE6
-Arsen
http://mitto.com
Your Safe and Secure Online Password Manager
Great links that everyone is sharing. I’m very glad to see that larger companies are now starting to promote upgrading. It will be a happy day for the web when everyone finally does!
Selene M. Bowlby’s last blog post: Please Excuse the Dust… Upgrade in Progress!
nice blog!
I would have started using Flock a long time ago if it had Google toolbar. (all my bookmarks are there) Do you know a workaround?
Great post guys at our next think tank I am going to bring this up IE6….Thanks for all the links..Save the Developers Campaign..The power of the web…Thanks..