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Internet Explorer Not Dead Yet

turnitover writes "The future's not all Firefox, Deer Park and Camino, insists Microsoft. At its Mix '06 conference in Las Vegas, reports Microsoft Watch, company execs insisted that there's a bright future for IE. They not only distributed a 'layout-complete' build of IE 7.0, but offered hints about what the new version of the browser geeks love to disdain (yes, it will include ActiveX) will include. Also shown: tools to test IE compatibility. But with what? Standards or IE 6?"

15 of 498 comments (clear)

  1. Oh boy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't WAIT to watch the objective analysis that this thread will surely contain.

  2. Ash by thatguywhoiam · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Its a trick. Get an axe."

    --
    If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
  3. IE may not be dead yet by RLiegh · · Score: 5, Funny

    But it's certainly beginning to smell like it is!

  4. MS says IE isn't dead? by Jesselnz · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm sure FreeBSD is saying the same thing...

  5. In other news.. by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Honda claims next year's Hondas will be the best cars ever, Magnavox claims to produce the greatest ever stereo system, and Goya state that their upcoming batch of red kidney beans are going to be the absolute mind-blowingly best batch of red kidney beans ever set upon by human sensory organs.

    Why is it news when a company advertises its own products?

  6. Good thing too! by clevershark · · Score: 5, Funny

    The decision was cheered as "guaranteed work for the next decade" by computer security experts worldwide.

    --

    My sig is too lon

  7. Re:ACID 2.0 Test by ELProphet · · Score: 5, Funny

    Neglecting Firefox's inability to pass Acid 2.0. this might be better for you.

  8. NOT DEAD YET? by peterpressure · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Isn't IE still 90% of the market share? where did this subject line come from?

    Sure I wish it was dead just like everyone else, but last I checked my grandmother wasn't going to download firefox so she can receive RSS feeds and use tabbed browsing...

    what a bias misleading subject...

    i thought /. was completely non biased and objective

    muahahahahahahaha

  9. Re:ACID 2.0 Test by kimvette · · Score: 5, Interesting

    While I am also a Firefox fan and use it despite Konqueror's being very nice and passing the Acid2 test, it should be pointed out that Firefox does NOT pass the Acid2 test. At least, Firefox/1.5.0.1 does not. The dev tree might, but who counts that? One may as well claim that Looking Glass is the best operating environment ever - but since it's vaporware/unreleased it would be a false statement.

    Sure, Firefox breaks less than IE does when loading the Acid2 test, however by a strict measurement, only one (two) browsers to date pass Acid2:

    KHTML (Safari/Konqueror)

    If you want to count dev trees/beta releases, then you've got:

    Opera
    Firefox

    Also, I think it's great that the Opera folks are almost mocking Microsoft, and challenging them to pass Acid2. Aside from KHTML which is there, and MSIE which TOTALLY pukes on it, Every other browser is almost rendering Acid2 to be recognizable as a smiley face. At least everyone else is attempting to handle proper CSS and bad CSS correctly, e.g, render compliant CSS, and downgrade gracefully on broken CSS.

    What MSIE renders could just as well be accomplished by splashing paint on a sheet of canvas. With the way Microsoft is handling things, I wonder why they don't just ignore CSS altogether and turn their browser into a random pixel renderer?

    Get with the program, Microsoft. You have the greatest market share so it is in your best interest for maintaining your share to act responsibly. I hope the mass reaction to MSIE 7.0 is for major sites to either block the browser, or to use CSS which causes MSIE to totally break, and for those sites to recommend all browsers which are not MSIE as alternatives.

    Microsoft has held the web back long enough with their refusal to implement proper PNG rendering - their holding back the web has to stop now.

    --
    The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
  10. It's just resting! by Tackhead · · Score: 5, Funny
    > But it's certainly beginning to smell like it is!

    Dont' worry, it'll be stone dead in a minute.
    $ rm -rf /source/vista/ie7/*

    But seriously...

    User: I wish to make a complaint!
    Ballmer: (hurriedly) Sorry, we're about to ship Vista.
    User: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this web browser, what came bundled not five years ago from this very operating system.
    Ballmer: Oh yes, IE, ah, version 6. What's, ah... W-what's wrong with it?
    User: I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. It's dead, that's what's wrong with it.
    Ballmer: No, no, It's ah... it's undergoing a security upgrade.
    User: Look, matey, I know a dead browser when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.
    Ballmer: No no, i-it's not dead, it's... getting its user interface upgraded!
    User: User interface?
    Ballmer: Y-yeah, the UI. Upgradin'. Remarkable browser, IE, isn't it, eh? Beautiful layouts!
    User: The layout-complete build don't enter into it. It's stone dead!
    Ballmer: Nononono, no, no! 'E's bein' upgraded!
    User: All right then, if he's bein' upgraded, I'll run 'im!
    (starts typing)
    IEXPLORE.EXE! C:\MYDOCU~1\HELLO.JPG
    Looky looky looky! Happily rendering the Goatse Guy! Hey, IE, I've got lots of lovely RAM for you if you're running, Mr. Internet Explorer!)
    (pounds keyboard)
    Ballmer: There, the page refreshed!
    User: No, he didn't, that was you clicking reload!
    Ballmer: I never!!
    User: Yes, you did!
    Ballmer: I never, never....
    (pounding Ctrl-Alt-Del on the keyboard again)
    User: HELLO, WORLD! HELLO TASK MANAGER! PLEASE WAKE UP!
    Now that's what I call a dead browser.
    Ballmer: No, no.... No, it's just running a signed ActiveX Control in the background.
    User: A ACTIVEX CONTROL!?!?
    Ballmer: Yeah! You invoked an ActiveX control, just as it was wakin' up! Believe me, IE runs those easily, major!
    User: Look my lad, I've had just about enough of this. That browser is definitely deceased, and when I booted its PC up after buyin' it not half an hour ago, you assured me that the PC's total lack of computational power was due to it being tired and shagged out after a prolonged virus scan.
    Ballmer: Well, he's... it's, ah... probably needin' activation and authorization with Windows Genuine Advantage.
    User: WINDOWS Genuine ADVANTAGE?!? What kind of talk is that? Look, why did the OS crash flat on its back the moment I plugged it into the router?
    Ballmer: The Norwegian Bluescreen prefers kippin' on its back! Remarkable UI, though, isn't it, guv, eh? Lovely layout-complete screenshots!
    User: (coldly) Look, I took the liberty of examining that browser cache when I got it home, and I discovered the only reason that the PC had anything to run on its hard drive in the first place was that it had been bundled in there along with the spyware and the DRM.
    Ballmer: Well, of course it has DRM there! If I hadn't bundled that browser and nailed everything down with DRM, all the content would have nuzzled up to those wires at the back, bent 'em apart with its little bits, and VOOM!
    User: "VOOM?" Look matey, this browser wouldn't "voom" if you put four thousand kilobytes of W3C standards through it! It's bleedin' demised!
    Ballmer: It's not! I-It's just authenticating!
    User: It's not authenticatin,' it's passed on! This browser is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late software release! It's a stiff! Bereft of RAM, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the system with DRM and your monopoly it'd be pushing up the daisies! Its spawned processes are of interest only to historians! It's hopped the twig! It's shuffled off this mortal coil! It's run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible! This.... is an INACTIVE X!
    Ballmer: Well, I'd better upgrade it, then.

    (I'll stop it now. It's silly.)

  11. mhm.. by niXcamiC · · Score: 5, Funny
    The future's not all Firefox, Deer Park and Camino

    Right, its Opera.

    ducks

    --
    Chances are any disscution on Slashdot will degrade into a flamewar about ID/Christianity within 14 posts.
  12. Re:Standards and Bueller, both missing. by _Swank · · Score: 5, Informative

    fyi, when you search in firefox's search bar, pressing alt-enter will open the result in a new tab.

  13. Re:Standards and Bueller, both missing. by twistedsymphony · · Score: 5, Funny

    he better not die, he said he was going to get me out of summer school!

  14. Re:ACID 2.0 Test by Karzz1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "What's important is that IE 7 is WAY more standards compliant than the previous version..."

    Dude, they couldn't be any less standards compliant than previous versions. They had nowhere to go but up.

    --
    Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
  15. Re:ACID 2.0 Test by porneL · · Score: 5, Insightful
    "Acid2 does not guarantee conformance with any specification"

    But conformance with W3C specifications guarantees passing Acid2 test.

    Acid2 is not the ultimate goal, but it's a pretty and easy to understand by non-techies indicator of progress in HTML/CSS support.