The Tlog – a technology blog

(this article includes parts adapted from my wiki)

A lot of people (not as many as some years ago, but still too many) have no idea what a “browser” is, yet they browse the Internet (or, more precisely, the World Wide Web) regularly.

How can that be? Well, due to some clever marketing (such as putting “Internet” in the application’s name), typical user ignorance and dislike of learning (people typically learn the bare minimum to do something, and then do everything in their power, including heavy effort if necessary, not to have to learn an iota more) and the fact that most users tend to stick to “whatever came with the computer” (in fact, with the operating system), those people use Internet Explorer (IE) without thinking, without realizing that

1. there exists a kind of program called “a web browser”,
2. IE is one, and
3. IE is not the only one, there are others.

What are the consequences of this? There are several, and all are bad ones:

• Microsoft hates the idea of open standards, because that means less control for them. Due to that, IE doesn’t support many modern standards, like CSS2, or supports them badly and/or partially, and – paradoxically, until you think about the reasons for it – is extremely permissive about what standards it does support, like HTML, XHTML and such. In other words, you can’t use many modern (but standard) features (and since so many people use IE, you can’t simply disregard them), but you can also write bad, incorrect code, and only IE will “eat it up” – browsers which respect standards will detect the numerous serious errors. Some HTML editors like Microsoft’s own FrontPage intentionally do this – create code with many errors, but which it “knows” IE will work around, with the result that only IE will show it properly, and less knowledgeable people with alternative browsers will believe it is their browsers which are to blame.
• Internet Explorer is extremely insecure – there have been literally dozens of updates for it, but they just patch particular holes, nothing is done about the fundamental insecurity of it; the browser was developed when computer security was not yet a concern, and it shows. A “bad” site can take control of your computer and install stuff (usually spyware) on it, just because you opened it in IE
• IE has a monstrosity called ActiveX technology, which allows a site to read and write on your system; while it theoretically has some security (and could be used for something useful), in fact there have been many holes in it, and besides many users are used to just clicking “OK” or “Yes”.
• IE (as of IE 6.0 Service Pack 1) doesn’t support any modern features, like tabs or selective image blocking, and only very recently (and only on Windows XP), with XP’s Service Pack 2, did it get a pop-up blocker. “I go to a site and get lots of pop-up windows, and when I try to close them, it opens even more windows!” is strictly a MSIE problem.
• Explorer is “integrated” into the operating system, which Microsoft touts as an advantage, but, instead:
  • makes it so that a browser crash can bring down the entire operating system;
  • cannot be updated without a reboot;
  • cannot be uninstalled;
  • allows Microsoft to only update IE for the latest version of Windows, forcing people to upgrade – this happened recently to Windows 2000 users, for instance, as IE 7.0 will only be available for Windows XP and newer.
• As mentioned above, IE encourages bad code, and lazy, incompetent web designers. Instead of learning enough and working enough to create a properly designed and coded web site which works on all browsers, it is much easier (and requires much less competence) to patch up something, and then say “it only works in exactly the same browser I use, on exactly the same operating system / version I use, with the same screen resolution I use.”
• Web standards are important for other reasons. Quoting a comment by Brian: “I’m talking about blind people, mobile phones, automated spidering scripts, Google, and so on. When you write standards-compliant web pages, you make it easier for all of these people to use your site. When you write IE-only tag soup you are just breaking the web and the philosophy of which it was conceived.”

In short, by using IE (or developing for it) you only harm yourself in the long run. Firefox or Opera may not be exactly like the browser you’re used to (though they’re as easy to use, if not easier)… but everything you currently know, you learned at some time, didn’t you? So don’t be afraid to learn one thing more, which will only benefit you. You’ll say goodbye to spyware and other malware (they can no longer be installed without your knowledge or permission), you’ll have a browser which gives control back to the user (instead of the site), you can block advertisements (especially those that seem to take over your browser and refuse to be closed)…

And there’s something else (you may think that this one is “idealistic crap” that you don’t care about, but, again, in the long run you’ll be benefiting yourself). Statistics. By not using IE, but using other browsers instead, you’ll be adding to the statistics of every site you visit – adding to the reality that web designers and, more importantly, “pointy-haired bosses” are only now beginning to understand: that not everyone uses IE, and that, by making a site that only works in it, they are instantly sending away 15% (as of now – that number is growing) of potential visitors. 15% of billions is a lot. And companies should learn that non-IE users are probably people who are more informed, who don’t sheepily use what they’re fed, but are more discerning. In other words, unless the site is trying to sell “generic viagra”, “genuine snake oil” or some other garbage , non-IE users are more likely to be better potential customers.

Related posts:

1. Limiting Internet Explorer to Windows Update

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 1st, 2005 at 15:33 and is filed under Browsers, Security, Spyware, Windows software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.