Aug 8th 2006 by Jordan Running

Windows experts and web developers are unhappy with Microsoft. Yes, again. Since Internet Explorer 7 was announced, Microsoft has promised that supporting current web standards was high on its list. It turns out, though, that by at least one report, IE7 will only support 54% of the CSS 2.1 standard, as compared to 52% in IE6 and 93% in Firefox 1.5 and 96% in Opera 9. In addition to making a whole lot of web developers' lives a whole lot more difficult, IE7's lack of standards support is turning off a lot of Microsoft's most vocal fans, including Paul Thurrott, who runs the excellent Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows. In a recent Windows IT Pro column, Thurrott accuses Microsoft of leaving users and web developers in the lurch, concluding "My advice is simple: Boycott IE. It's a cancer on the Web that must be stopped. IE isn't secure and isn't standards-compliant, which makes it unworkable both for end users and Web content creators." Ouch.

This article is not about bugs. It is about blatant decisions not to support standards. I do not mind if browsers do not support things yet, as long as they are still trying. What I object to is people deciding that they will not bother to advance their support, for whatever reason, but still insist on trying to push their product as being the right browser to use. The web is supposed to be a community where people share information, not a playground where the bully beats up the other children, just because they try to do well.

Why should we care? Because what people don't seem to realize is that if IE did things the same way as the other browsers, it would actually make web development much easier. Page code would be much cleaner and less bloated, more accessible. They would take less time to write, and in most cases would be cross browser compatible, usually without the need for hacks or detects. Web pages would be more likely to just work, and it would cost significantly less to make them.

http://www.howtocreate.co.uk/wrongWithIE/

I am a web designer and I get sick of designing sites to work in all browsers. Earlier today I designed a site in Firefox, and when I opened it in IE the content didn't show properly. It took me at least 2 hours to fix this issue and I still have a few minor things that need fixed. Why can't all the browsers read content the same to get rid of these frustrating browser friendly issues. (IE is horrible. It should be made a lot more like Firefox or eliminated altogether)

Aug 8th 2006 by Matt

All of us developer types generally use Firefox anyway. I have no need for IE. Microsoft has proven that they do not care nor do they have the marbles to create a stable browser. Let it die, man! With browsers like Firefox and Opera, not to mention Flock and other up-and-comers, IE is useless to me.

Cookies stored by IE for Windows can be read by any Web site

Any Web site that uses cookies to authenticate users or store private information -- including Amazon.com, HotMail, Yahoo Mail, DoubleClick, MP3.com, NYTimes.com, and thousands of others -- could have cookies exposed by Internet Explorer and intercepted by a third-party Web site.

http://www.peacefire.org/security/iecookies/

www.killbillsbrowser.com

Secunia spots a problem in IE7 that lurked for years in IE6

October 30, 2006  (IDG News Service) -- A security problem originally found in Microsoft Corp's Internet Explorer 6 browser has returned to haunt IE7, the new version of the browser launched two weeks ago, a security consultant said Monday.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9004593&intsrc=it_blogwatch

For info on the original problem:

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-07-01-cyber-threat_x.htmhttp://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=16922

In May, 2003 Microsoft stated that it would no longer produce new stand-alone versions of its browser, and that the browser would only be upgraded when installing new versions of its operating system (by this, of course, they mean their user interface, also known as Windows). The implications of this are not trivial: users of any existing Microsoft OS will never be able to get an upgrade for their IE browser on their current systems without upgrading to the new Windows version as well.

I have stopped designing to accommodate the IE browser, despite the fact that it is still considered to be "the most popular." It is only "the most popular" because people don't know they have a choice. And you DO have a choice! If you knew how little MS cares about your online security, and how they snub their noses at the new standards for website production, you would run screaming for the other guys! If you want to know more, click on any of the above links for more details. If you don't want to know, then carry on. You are not experiencing the WWW in its glory, but rather what MS thinks is best for you which, of course, is what's best for them ... and ONLY them. As a designer, I choose to no longer cater to their childishness and lack of responsibility to the customers. So if a site seems a bit "off," it's probably not because of the designer, but rather is a direct result of the browser. Try viewing it in the Firefox browser to see how it's supposed to look and function. And whatever you do, DON'T put any of your sensitive information into a form on IE ... unless, of course, you WANT to share it with all the hackers! They're waiting for you ... and they're not using the IE browser. And I'm curious ... can anyone tell me what browser Bill Gates uses? I can't believe he uses IE as it's shipped. If he uses it at all, it's got to be a special version with security holes plugged. And I bet it's somehow been made compliant with the WWW standards as well. He couldn't possibly be viewing the Internet as he expects his customers to view it!!