IE9 Beta now available

[jcombs_31]

http://www.beautyoftheweb.com/

[.josh]

 

HTML5 Support

 

Through active participation in standards development in CSS3 and SVG working groups, co-chairing the HTML5 Working Group, and leading the HTML5 Testing Task force, we are actively helping set the standards for the modern web. Through our investments in standards and interoperability, we hope to help bring predictability to web programming. Because when you can spend less time rewriting your sites to work across browsers, you can spend more time creating amazing experiences.

 

 

[Philip]

LOL @ the domain name, because IE9 can unleash a more beautiful web...

[Pikachu2000]

All the bugs, with only twice the bloat!

[ignace]

 

HTML5 Support

 

Through active participation in standards development in CSS3 and SVG working groups, co-chairing the HTML5 Working Group, and leading the HTML5 Testing Task force, we are actively helping set the standards for the modern web. Through our investments in standards and interoperability, we hope to help bring predictability to web programming. Because when you can spend less time rewriting your sites to work across browsers, you can spend more time creating amazing experiences.

 

If we may believe that, we also may start believing in Microsoft pushing IE9 to all IE6 users.

[Daniel0]

 

HTML5 Support

 

Through active participation in standards development in CSS3 and SVG working groups, co-chairing the HTML5 Working Group, and leading the HTML5 Testing Task force, we are actively helping set the standards for the modern web. Through our investments in standards and interoperability, we hope to help bring predictability to web programming. Because when you can spend less time rewriting your sites to work across browsers, you can spend more time creating amazing experiences.

 

If we may believe that, we also may start believing in Microsoft pushing IE9 to all IE6 users.

 

Not going to happen. The sets of operating systems that those two versions are compatible with are disjoint.

[roopurt18]

Not to mention there is still software in use that only supports IE6.

[.josh]

IE6 will be the sole reason 50 years from now we aren't using a 3d VR internets.

 

Also, the lack of people and abundance of zombies might have an impact.

[ngreenwood6]

I downloaded the ie9 beta and it is a step up in terms of javascript speed and html 5 support. However, my wife was trying to play a game on facebook and it was not working at all. When scrolling down the page it was flickering and all kinds of crazy stuff. Works fine in ie8, firefox and chrome. Its just another disappointment from microsoft. Google FTW.

[roopurt18]

...

 

Shame on them for their beta software not working properly!  And shame on the flash developers for not making their plug-in work flawlessly in a beta container!  Inconceivable!

[.josh]

I know right? Who the fuck do they think they are? There should be some kind of standard where you release something clearly labeled as a "trial" or "test" with the intention of finding and fixing random bugs and...oh wait...

[JonnoTheDev]

What I don't get is why they haven't made it compatible with Windows XP. I must admit that I am the only person in our office that is still running XP purely because I can't be arsed with the hassle of setting up a new PC when this one works adequately.

What it does mean though is that any client side code I write I will have to pester a colleague to borrow their PC to test in IE9.

 

I find it hilarous. Microsoft: Here's our new super duper web browser, better, faster, more user-friendly than all others. Oh, by the way you can't use it on that operating system that we made a while ago, sorry. Why don't you spend more money on a licence for our latest operating system Windows 7 thats, better, faster, more user-friendly than all others!

 

Suck my balls.

[Pikachu2000]

And just for the sake of nostalgia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ntr-pw_6C0&feature=related

[Philip]

...this one works adequately.

 

So with that logic, why upgrade from IE6?

[JonnoTheDev]

So with that logic, why upgrade from IE6?

Because a lot of the major websites are beginning to drop support for it such as youtube, etc. To upgrade to IE7 / 8 doesn't require a new operating system.

There are a few circumstances where organisations refuse to drop IE6 such as in the UK public sector. A lot of browser based systems work on legacy client side code that was built and tested on IE6. Upgrading the browser will effectively render these systems useless so basically the cost of rewriting these applications is an expense the government cannot afford.

It's just another sad case of taxpayers money being wasted on crap.

 

In all, IE6 should not be used by the average Jo. We tell all our clients that we are not supporting it, and if they use it they must upgrade.

 

As Pikachu2000 says, "Shitcan it".

[.josh]

 

In all, IE6 should not be used by the average Jo. We tell all our clients that we are not supporting it, and if they use it they must upgrade.

 

As Pikachu2000 says, "Shitcan it".

 

...and many people would argue the same about you still being on Windows XP...it was released like 9 years ago, and has been since replaced twice over...first with Vista (about 4 years ago) and now by  Windows 7 (been out for over a year now...).

 

No offense dude...if you wanna continue to use XP then more power to you, but I don't think you really have room to complain about IE9 not being compatible with XP.

[jcombs_31]

 

In all, IE6 should not be used by the average Jo. We tell all our clients that we are not supporting it, and if they use it they must upgrade.

 

As Pikachu2000 says, "Shitcan it".

 

...and many people would argue the same about you still being on Windows XP...it was released like 9 years ago, and has been since replaced twice over...first with Vista (about 4 years ago) and now by  Windows 7 (been out for over a year now...).

 

No offense dude...if you wanna continue to use XP then more power to you, but I don't think you really have room to complain about IE9 not being compatible with XP.

 

Agreed.  Pretty ignorant argument to begin with.  People love to bash MS without praising them for recognizing their mistakes and getting better. 

[JonnoTheDev]

No offense dude...if you wanna continue to use XP then more power to you, but I don't think you really have room to complain about IE9 not being compatible with XP.

fair point

[JasonLewis]

I got really really really angry when reading through some of the things on that site. Fuck I hate IE! Damnit!

[.josh]

so do you hate IE because that's the "cool" thing to say or do you actually have a reason?

[JasonLewis]

Because all the cool kids do of course.

 

I'm just generally sick and tired of IE and it's pathetic attempt to render a web page. Too many times has IE made me stay up later then I had wanted due to its shitness.

[zq29]

I'm just generally sick and tired of IE and it's pathetic attempt to render a web page. Too many times has IE made me stay up later then I had wanted due to its shitness.

 

While that is very true in the case of getting stuff to render the same in IE6, I very rarely find myself having to tweak much to get it working in 7/8.

[JasonLewis]

I'm just generally sick and tired of IE and it's pathetic attempt to render a web page. Too many times has IE made me stay up later then I had wanted due to its shitness.

 

While that is very true in the case of getting stuff to render the same in IE6, I very rarely find myself having to tweak much to get it working in 7/8.

 

Agreed, not so much anymore. It's still not up to par with other major browsers though. It's just frustrating that it's taken them this long to actually (so it seems) follow standards and not make it up as they go.

[.josh]

Agreed, not so much anymore. It's still not up to par with other major browsers though. It's just frustrating that it's taken them this long to actually (so it seems) follow standards and not make it up as they go.

 

You know, it's real easy to just casually make vague statements like that...much harder to make an effort, put in the time and research to give reasons why.  If you feel inspired to do so, I would like to remind you that there is a difference between "sub-par" and "alternate way of going about things," and I would like you to keep that in mind when trying to come up with a list of reasons why MS fails compared to everybody else.  That is of course if you bother to actually put your money where your mouth is....

 

Lemme tell you a story. Microsoft had by far the most popular and widely used software in the world.  For a long time.  For the sake of story-telling, let's keep it simple and say they had about 90% of everything.  Then there was the rest of the people who had like 10% collectively.  Everybody had their own standards, not just Microsoft. So one day, those handful of people who made up that 10% decided that they should make a standard, because it's hard enough to make money when you all make up 10% of the market collectively, and making a standard increases odds of survivability.

 

So they did that, and things were looking up.  Then they decided that 10% just wasn't enough.  Like virtually any business out there, the goal is to not sit there and idle at x revenue, but to increase revenue rate over time.  So they thought "Hey, what if we make out like this is the world standard, and make out like MS is not being a team player by following this standard? This will surely shift the numbers over time."  And it did, and it continues to do so. 

 

The moral of this story is that all these so-called "underdogs" are simply businesses who started out later in the game than Microsoft.  While a lot of them may have differences in short term goals and philosophies, virtually all of them have the same long term goals and philosophies as Microsoft, which boils down to two things: making money, and increasing how much money they make over time.  Everything else is Marketing strategy.  Open source? Donating to starving kids in Africa? Saving little kittens? Marketing strategy, all of it. 

 

At the end of the day, FF, Chrome, Safari, etc...they are all businesses, just like Microsoft.  They just aren't as big, so they make certain concessions and spin it off as being noble.  A classic example is Net Zero. Remember how Net Zero claimed they would always be free and never ever charge for their shit because charging for internet access is no less than morally wrong, worthy of going to hell over? Funny how one day out of the blue they decided to charge for their services.  Many people shook their heads in disbelief, felt betrayed, or just lol'd.  But it was no more than anything else companies do, just a marketing strategy to get their foot in the door of market. 

 

Now, don't get me wrong, I believe there should be standards.  I don't like having to do things like double and triple code javascript because of differing DOMs. Or hack the shit out of CSS to make it cross-browser compatible.  Jobs are hard enough as it is, jumping through a million hoops to figure out what the client wants, getting shit approved, etc... throwing the need to have cross-browser compatibility into the mix on my level of things sucks, which is why I continue to hail things like jQuery as the greatest invention since sliced bread.

 

But this unfounded and mis-informed hatred of Microsoft, as if they are the sole reason the interwebs is not some perfect Utopian architecture... I mean seriously, it's fucking annoying.  Too many people way too eager to just jump on the "MS sucks monkey balls" bandwagon without doing some actual research and looking at the situation objectively.  Many people spend all day happily and mindlessly bitching about how it is Microsoft not conforming to this self-proclaimed "world" standard, when the truth is, for the longest time, Microsoft was the standard, and up until a couple years ago, they were still the majority, and even to this day, they still hold a significant % of the market. 

 

You say "Why isn't MS conforming to the 'world standard'," but if you look at history objectively, you will find that it is MS that more had the right to say "Why aren't you conforming to us?"  Now the obvious and immediate answer from your mouth will most certainly be "Because MS sucks."  Well I invite you to reexamine your definition of suck, because the numbers say otherwise, and I have to say that that statement stems more from jealousy and envy than actual suckness.

 

No, I am not some diehard Microsoft fanboy.  I just believe in looking at stuff objectively: something most people tend to forget to do when they find something that works for them and steadfastly stick to it without dipping their feet in other waters, because after all, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

[JasonLewis]

I'll admit that when I first started designing websites IE6 was the browser and I had no idea you could browse the web with anything other then that. Heck a lot of what you wrote then I had no idea occurred. I don't believe I just jumped on the bandwagon and made a 'I hate IE' sign and started parading around. I have my reasons for disliking IE. I dislike IE, not MS as a whole. I actually like MS. I'm a huge Xbox fan, don't see anything wrong with Windows as it does the job for me, but when it comes to IE I usually cringe just because for me, it doesn't do the job.

 

I don't know heaps and heaps about the history of web browsers, introduction of world wide standards etc. But when these other companies came about and the W3C began to write up web standards that are globally recognized, I always wondered what was taking IE so long to offer support for these standards that everyone else was conforming too. Surely they would've realized that these new competitors were slowly (very slowly) eating away at their marketshare. The best move for IE would've been to fully support these new standards.

 

Your post was interesting to read. I just seems to me that Microsoft has been stubborn with IE.