IE6 must die

I’m going to try to write at least one post a day, but when you’ve done nothing all day but feel rotten all day at home there’s very little to say that I didn’t say yesterday. Until I noticed the #6 trending topic on Twitter was “IE6 must die”.

It is a sentiment I absolutely agree with and for a fuller explanation of why Internet Explorer 6 is holding back web development you should read the article at http://mashable.com/2009/07/16/ie6-must-die.

The problem is not people, but companies. Many people access the Internet at work and are often unable to install a different browser and so have no choice but to use IE6. Why do companies still use IE6? Because most still use XP and IE6 happens to be the browser that came with it. Consequently all their internal systems are designed for it and they are scared of breaking them by updating the browser.

The fact that pretty much any web application that runs IE6 will also run on IE7, and usually IE8 as well, is completely lost on IT departments for whom change is a bad word.

So, how do you convince a company to update the browser? Well, here are a couple of ideas I have.

Firstly, although browsing the Internet is often frowned on by companies, often there are some key external sites frequently used by the decision makers of a company (or used by those with a direct line to those decision makers). Things like hotel and flight booking systems. If those sites were to drop IE6 support I could guarantee you an order would come down that the standard browser would need to upgraded.

My other idea would be for the developers of company systems. Stop designing for it. Look at the additional functionality offered by more modern browsers and build your application around them.

You would have to sell the concept to the people paying for it, but imagine a web application that embraces tabs rather the using the single window of IE6. The ability to navigate to different parts of the application without the constant clicking of links and buttons or use of the back button, potentially losing data you’ve just entered, should be a compelling reason to embrace a tabbed interface.

As a software developer, it is usually my job to build applications that fit the client’s environment, but with a little subtle pushing you can potentially provide a far better solution if you treat the given environment as something that can be tweaked instead of being set in stone.

Ill

What a better way to start a new blog than to start by complaining about being ill. Obviously, the first thought at the moment is SWINE FLU, or maybe it’s just a man cold, as if a man cold is is somehow the lesser of the two. As any man will tell you, it is not.

So, I’ve had to call into work this morning to inform them of my predicament, and call off a meeting where I would have just sat a listened to the same thing being said multiple times by multiple parties until all parties left with different ideas about what had been agreed.

I have managed to avoid watching daytime TV, partly due to the fact we don’t have a TV in the bedroom where I have spent most of the day. However, I do have access to a laptop which I have entertained myself with, although staring at the screen too long makes my eyes bleed, or so it feels.

I also managed to spend £90 that I do not have on something I’ve already got. Windows 7 is available for pre-order at a stupidly low price for a limited time. Although Home Premium is apparently getting difficult to get hold of, Professional is still available.

I currently have the Ultimate RC installed on my main desktop PC and I absolutely love it, so much better that XP which is already decent. I skipped Vista as I could find no compelling reason to upgrade and, judging by the press at release, I was right to do so.

I have found a few problems which are not so much to do with the OS, but rather third parties not supporting it. My graphics card is an ATI Radeon X1950 Pro but apparently AMD can no longer be bothered to support this card despite only being a few years old so i have to rely on the default Windows 7 driver and can no longer send video to my TV like I used to be able to do.

I also tried the PC games subscription service Metaboli as I had a sudden urge to play Freelancer and it seemed the only legitimate way to play it but I was unable to get it to work which resulted in a very quick cancellation.

I also tried Sky’s player servce, imaginatively called Sky Player, but the softare would not install. I have since looked at the Sky Player’s site and it now says no software required except Silverlight but the the requirements do not include Windows 7 nor IE8 (or  Firefox 3.5 for that matter) so it may still not work. Something to check out tomorrow I think because I’m sure I will not be well enough to go into work tomorrow either.

I’d better feel better for Saturday as I want to take my daughter to Legoland Live on Saturday. She’s really excited about it and I desperately do not want to disappoint her.