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November 23, 2009
Question

Should developing sites compatible with IE6 be abandoned?

  • November 23, 2009
  • 1 reply
  • 549 views

Hello all,

With MSIE 8 as the latest MS browser, the question mentioned in the subject line bears asking, especially to a recently new developer such as myself:

Should we abandon all thought of considering IE6 when we develop our pages?

Personally, I use the latest version of Firefoxfor my daily browsing and as the primary browser for testing in Dreamweaver. I also test with Chrome, more for the heck of it (and not regularly). And while we're at it, should Safari be considered as well?

I'm looking for personal preference and opinion in addition to practical advice.

Cheers and thanks!

Sincerely,

wordman

PS - And as for testing goes, should one test in IE7 and IE8?

This topic has been closed for replies.

1 reply

DwFAQ
Participating Frequently
November 24, 2009

As far as your opinionated questions regard, develop for the browsers that your visitors are using. Simple as that.

November 24, 2009

Thanks! I was actually looking for the opinions of those of you who are more up to date with various trends such as browser use. I ask because IE6 is getting long in the tooth and I was cutious to know if anyone is aware of its eventual demise? I will only have a good idea about my customers' browser usage once I go live. I asked simply because it was a curiosity that came to mind as I was coding.

Any and all thoughts appreciated.

Cheers,

wordman

jon8
Inspiring
November 24, 2009

if you're website is designed well, there should be very few hacks that need to target ie6 for it to display correctly.  pain, yes, but you should continue to support this browser for at least another year or two.  if your pages/applications are on the internet, then some % will still be using it.  in some cases as high as 40%, in some cases as low as 5%... but do you want to turn anyone away?  and don't bother with the javascript browser checks reminding or suggesting people to upgrade... if they haven't upgraded by now, it's for a reason.