Technology

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Browsers

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Browsers

Your Choices

Browsers are changing all the time, and your choice of browser directly affects your browsing experience.

There are many different web browsers available to choose from, and it's definitely worth trying a few of them out. Don't just stick with the one that came installed simply because it's there, or the age old, never been updated browser, or the one you stick with, keep updated, but see no reason to change.

There is a reason to look around, web standards change and some browser vendors try to keep abreast of the changes. Unfortunately, each vendor moves at a different pace, and each one weighs each new specification differently.

This means that most of the time there is a mish-mash of 'features' across all the available browsers.

As a result of all this mish-mash, the same site can look different from browser to browser. Take a look at the screenshots of this site, as viewed from each of the following browsers:

Chrome, Firefox and Safari all display this site as it is intended to be viewed. Internet Explorer and Opera do not.

This is because this site was designed this way - to highlight the differences between browsers.

It is perfectly possible to make this site display the same in all browsers - if we target Internet Explorer only. But why should Chrome, Firefox or Safari users be deprived of a superior user experience, just because some people still insist on using out of date browsers?

We would recommend, at the very least, downloading a few different browsers, and visiting your favourite sites with each. At the very minimum, if you are still using an old version of your current browser - UPGRADE - stop holding the web back.

Developers Choices

Writing code for different browsers is a problem that any self respecting developer has to contend with on a daily basis. Lazy developers just ignore the new, cutting edge standards and specs, and write code only for old, legacy browsers. This makes the life of the developer easier, but deprives users of any kind of 'suitable' user experience, and any self respecting developer takes a pride in the code that is written. So much so, that 'suitable' as a definition of how users will experience a service or site, just doesn't cut it.

For instance, I have seen, and used, more than one site or web application where the developers have targeted only Internet Explorer version 6 - which is 10 years old. The user experience achieved by such arcane thought processes is extremely poor - and it is the user experience, either lack of, or exceptional, which will determine the ultimate outcome of a project - be that success or failure.

If your next great project is a public application, such as Twitter or You Tube, and the user experience is poor due to developing for only the oldest browsers, then you are doomed to failure.

If, on the other hand, the application or system is internal, and you can 'demand' your users use only IE 6, then it is not so bad. Or is it?

In this situation, your main users will probably be your staff - and you need your staff to be productive, because that's what you pay them for. Forcing staff to use a badly designed system is no way to get the best out of them, but it is a sure fire way to keep moral at a low ebb.

Download Choices

Download and test drive a new browser - go on, give it a try....

Safari, from Apple
Chrome, from Google
Firefox, from Mozilla
Opera, from Opera Software
Internet Explorer, from Microsoft

Whichever one you choose, or currently use, you should always try and make sure you have the latest version, both for usability, and security.

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