Internet Explorer 7: Flawed or Misunderstood?

[tesco]

http://images.slashdot.org/topics/topicie.gifIt's been a weird couple of weeks for Internet Explorer. On August 7, 2006, Jeff Reifman blogged (http://www.idealog.us/2006/08/microsoft_drops.html) about a supposed statistical analysis of Internet Explorer (IE) 6, IE 7, Firefox, and Opera in which each browser was scored for its standards compliance. According to this data set (http://www.webdevout.net/browser_support_summary.php?uas=IE6-IE7-FX1_5-OP8-OP9), Firefox 1.5 complies with 93 percent of the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) 2.1 specification, compared to 93 percent for Opera 8.5, 96 percent for Opera 9, a woeful 52 percent for IE 6, and an equally problematic 54 percent for IE 7. The issue here was clear, assuming the data was correct: Despite its multi-year development, IE 7 would offer only a negligible advantage over IE 6 in a key Web technology.

Read More (http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/ie7_misunderstood.asp)

:source: Source: http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/ie7_misunderstood.asp

[tesco]

It's sad that it's that low. :(
I expected higher than that from IE7. :dry:

[j0hn]

i didnt
i downloaded the beta ages ago, but couldnt bring myself to install it.
curiousity wasnt even enough.

they'd have to rename/rebrand it completely for me to even try it.
i use firefox for everything. i havent had ANY browsing/spyware/adware/etc problems since switching from i.e.
before i switched, i had some sort of problem on an almost daily basis.

not a surprise, after all, microsoft made it.

[peat moss]

Ah I wish it was better too , it would keep Firefox or Opera striving to be # 2 .
Microsoft’s Latest Patch for IE Causes Crashes.

Link :

http://www.playfuls.com/news_03992_Microsofts_Latest_Patch_for_IE_Causes_Crashes.html

[gamer4eva]

I hate Internet Explorer now and i would rather use firefox or opera anyday.

[4play]

The problem is so many sites are designed to run for ie6 that suddenly dumping full css support on everyone would make it a nightmare for everyone to update.

chirs wilson the group program manager for ie has been getting some flack of late after he claimed the tests which showed css support was 54% were speculative at best and he believed ie7 sits somewhere in the 50 - 90 percent range.

Anyway his blog site here (http://blogs.msdn.com/cwilso/archive/2006/08/10/694584.aspx) doesn't validate properly against the w3c specs but does have a bit more info about ie's css support.

[tesco]

The problem is so many sites are designed to run for ie6 that suddenly dumping full css support on everyone would make it a nightmare for everyone to update.
They don't have to learn it or change much if anything though.
It would just be there and available for web developers that actually know how and want to use it.

[Busyman™]

Funny enough beta 2 never crashed and beta 3 has crashed a coupla times when using YouTube.:blink:

[4play]

The problem is so many sites are designed to run for ie6 that suddenly dumping full css support on everyone would make it a nightmare for everyone to update.
They don't have to learn it or change much if anything though.
It would just be there and available for web developers that actually know how and want to use it.

So what happens when your old non standard compliant site designed for ie6 now comes across ie7 which is fully compliant and renders the site badly.

you now have the choice of redesigning the whole site to be standard compliant and screw ie6 users or have a hack that renders the site differently for older browsers. Either way its alot of effort for web designers.

Im waiting for firefox to have a large portion of the browser market and then ie will suddenly be the browser people complain about because sites dont work properly in it. Then microsoft will be forced to be standard compliant.

[Busyman™]

They don't have to learn it or change much if anything though.
It would just be there and available for web developers that actually know how and want to use it.

So what happens when your old non standard compliant site designed for ie6 now comes across ie7 which is fully compliant and renders the site badly.

you now have the choice of redesigning the whole site to be standard compliant and screw ie6 users or have a hack that renders the site differently for older browsers. Either way its alot of effort for web designers.

Im waiting for firefox to have a large portion of the browser market and then ie will suddenly be the browser people complain about because sites dont work properly in it. Then microsoft will be forced to be standard compliant.

...and then Firefox will have all the security problems.

[4play]

...and then Firefox will have all the security problems.

Thats when all the cool kids move on to opera. :P

[GepperRankins]

The issue here was clear, assuming the data was correct: Despite its multi-year development, IE 7 would offer only a negligible advantage over IE 6 in a key Web technology.


:dabs:

[tesco]

They don't have to learn it or change much if anything though.
It would just be there and available for web developers that actually know how and want to use it.

So what happens when your old non standard compliant site designed for ie6 now comes across ie7 which is fully compliant and renders the site badly.

you now have the choice of redesigning the whole site to be standard compliant and screw ie6 users or have a hack that renders the site differently for older browsers. Either way its alot of effort for web designers.We already have to do that.:huh:

[true_neo]

...and then Firefox will have all the security problems.Difference being that Mozilla actually fixes their security problems faster than once every 5 years or at best once every month :P

[j0hn]

i.e updates come with windows updates
users on a pirated copy of windows, or those with windows updates disabled, dont get the updates.
firefox tells u when u start it about a new version, takes about 5 seconds to install, and unlike i.e doesnt require a restart.

the main problem with i.e in my opinion though is that its welded to the o.s. if u get a problem browsing with i.e, it could easily become a problem with the whole o.s.

i.e7 is supposed to be taking a step away from that, but we'll see.

[4play]

i.e updates come with windows updates
users on a pirated copy of windows, or those with windows updates disabled, dont get the updates.
users of pirates copies still receive security updates.



the main problem with i.e in my opinion though is that its welded to the o.s. if u get a problem browsing with i.e, it could easily become a problem with the whole o.s.

i.e7 is supposed to be taking a step away from that, but we'll see.

As far as i know ie is still bolted into the os but they are being very restrictive of where ie places files and who can access them. Along with making it run in an unpriveleged mode It should be a much harder nut to crack.


We already have to do that.
true but are the vast majority of sites going to bother with a complete rewrite and if they do its gonna make micosoft look very bad.

[tracydani3]

Not to side with IE, but the report goes on to say-

"There's just one problem. Those words were penned over a year ago, and Jeff had mistaken the August tagline as being from August 2006, not August 2005."

He then goes on to say-

"So will I be using IE 7? No, probably not: Firefox still "feels" better and it has features that are missing in IE 7. But I can't condemn IE anymore. Clearly, Microsoft cares about IE and is now updating it regularly. Clearly, they are listening to feedback, and this article is presented in that context, as feedback, as the start of a dialog. IE 7 isn't perfect, but it's not the monster IE used to be. I won't make fun of people for using it, and I won't feel stressed that it's going to compromise my system. And maybe, just maybe, I'll find myself back in IE again someday. You just never know."

In case no one noticed ;)

[Busyman™]

...and then Firefox will have all the security problems.Difference being that Mozilla actually fixes their security problems faster than once every 5 years or at best once every month :P

They don't have as many. They are not the market leader currently.


users of pirates copies still receive security updates.



the main problem with i.e in my opinion though is that its welded to the o.s. if u get a problem browsing with i.e, it could easily become a problem with the whole o.s.

i.e7 is supposed to be taking a step away from that, but we'll see.
As far as i know ie is still bolted into the os but they are being very restrictive of where ie places files and who can access them. Along with making it run in an unpriveleged mode It should be a much harder nut to crack.

Yeah I already have to go through an extra step to run Active X controls which was one of the biggest flaws of IE6.

Besides the crash I got when going from minimized to maximized mode on YouTube, I haven't had one problem.


Not to side with IE, but the report goes on to say-

"There's just one problem. Those words were penned over a year ago, and Jeff had mistaken the August tagline as being from August 2006, not August 2005."

He then goes on to say-

"So will I be using IE 7? No, probably not: Firefox still "feels" better and it has features that are missing in IE 7. But I can't condemn IE anymore. Clearly, Microsoft cares about IE and is now updating it regularly. Clearly, they are listening to feedback, and this article is presented in that context, as feedback, as the start of a dialog. IE 7 isn't perfect, but it's not the monster IE used to be. I won't make fun of people for using it, and I won't feel stressed that it's going to compromise my system. And maybe, just maybe, I'll find myself back in IE again someday. You just never know."

In case no one noticed ;)

Notice how that wasn't posted initially.

[MillerMCM]

I just can't stand dealling with the layout of IE 7 and all the inane popups asking if I want to authorize going to a website I just typed in. It's completely irritating.