Upgrade that browser!

One of the challenges in web design is that we (web designers and developers) always find ourselves tasked with creating websites that work on a variety of browsers.  This is a task that can put even the most talented web designers in a funk.  Internet Explorer which is still the most commonly used browser to date brings its own set of design challenges.  The problem with IE browsers before version 8 is that Microsoft did not pay much attention to standards.  Standards are simply a set of rules that  should be followed when creating a browser for public  and commercial use. Well Microsoft for a long time did not necessarily follow these rules and decided to do things their way.  So to make a long story short, Internet Explorer version 6 will not render a web page the same way Internet Explorer 8 renders a page.  In fact a web designer would have to create work-arounds in order for the browser to display the same page correctly.  Crazy…. right and I know this may not make sense to many of you so to make it simple I will just say Upgrade that Browser to version 8.  This simple upgrade will not only give you access to some of the newer web browsing features but makes it much easier for you to view web pages the way the designer meant for you to see it.  Microsoft decided to pay attention (well somewhat) to the cries of web designers and corporations that rely on pages showing up correctly.  Throw in the fact the they were also losing ground to the popular Firefox browser and you can see why there was a change of heart at Microsoft on implementing the standards. If you are using a version of Firefox, Safari or Opera then you are in luck.  For years those browsers followed the standards and usually work out quite well.  However you should still consider upgrading to the latest version of these browsers when prompted.

Most corporate entities have technology policies in place that may not allow you to upgrade.  The reasons for this can be justified due to security or web applications that can only be used with the version of the browser currently in use.  In this case you are simply out of luck on the upgrade and may always find yourself using an old browser at the office.

Russ McClinton is a web design consultant with Media.Broadcast.Internet and former web design instructor.