Is Internet Explorer Really As Good As It Looks On TV?

Summary

So, you've seen the ads on tv recently showing off how good Internet Explorer is and how fast it is and how you can do so much cool stuff with it... My experience is quite the opposite. We work very hard to make all our websites and software compliant with all browsers - including Internet Explorer. It takes tons of time and when you think you have it cracked for one IE version, the others wont work exactly how you imagined. So, i sit in front of the TV watching this super slick ad and thinking to myself this isn't the IE I have seen and been using!

Decline

I don't really care which browser people use - they tend to use the one that comes preinstalled on the computer, which is typically IE. It does an ok job for most things and as long as you keep it updated it is an ok way to view the web. My concern is that people who have only ever used IE, have such a rubbish experience of the web - especially from some of the more modern websites, where interaction and engaging media is presented. We use Chrome in the office and it is amazing (most of the time). We don't have to install Flash (argh) and all the HTML5 goodies that are all over the web are available instantly. IE makes you install Flash, then Flash crashes, the user gets p***ed off - the result being a rubbish internet experience.

Therefore, when I saw the latest stats come out of StatCounter for July, I wasn't surprised. IE dominance has been fading fast over the last couple of years, mostly replaced by Chrome usage. But, for the first time, IE was no longer number one. IE users must have realised that they can use any number of browsers and they started using them!

Hope

Whilst previewing Windows 8, the latest browser IE 10 comes preloaded. This version may finally be the one that helps Microsoft recover its lost ground. It finally supports CSS3 and HTML5 properly and presents as a really polished product. I hope that when it comes out the folks over at Microsoft HQ keep it updated and don't let it bloat into a slow crawler (much like Firefox was once!)

Rant over! Ultimately we want to use the most advanced coding techniques available when we build websites for our clients. Browsers like IE only serve to hold us back - as they put it, 'a more beautiful web is...' not using IE.

The Ad

I felt bad calling IE rubbish, so here is a free plug for Microsoft.

Credits

Thanks to - StatCounter, IE, Chrome