Slashdot Mirror
Will Internet Explorer 7 Have Any Impact?
John Seyton asks: "A recent posting regarding Internet Explorer 7 has me pondering what impact this next release will have on the web market. Firefox has fought hard to make a small dent in Internet Explorer's armor, to the point that we can browse most of the web with no loss of functionality, yet if Internet Explorer 7 recaptures a sizable chunk of that market share, web authors might once again create offensive 'please upgrade to Internet Explorer' web pages. Based upon the known features, what does the Slashdot community think the impact of Internet Explorer 7 will be on the web in general? Will we be forced to live a two-browser life once again?"
Unlike the features of Mozilla Firefox 2.0 (currently in development under the codename Bon Echo), the features of Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 do not include compatibility with obsolete operating systems such as Microsoft Windows 2000.
IE doesn't run on my systems.
Linux or OS X.
Exactly how do I run a two browser life? And while Linux's desktop marketshare may be limited (this is arguable), it's indisputable that OS X has a small, but economically and socially significant portion of the desktop market.
WhiteWolf666 an exBush supporter. All you new-school,compassionate,save the children Republicans can rot in hell
I recommend checking out the IE Team Blog. They regularly post on new features, changes to the rendering engine, etc.
As for hacks specifically, a few months ago, they started recommending a shift away from using CSS hacks and toward using conditional comments. The latter can be used to target specific IE versions with intended functionality, rather than side effects.
You do know that IE doesn't run on linux, right?
Well, not natively. I've managed to install it in CrossOver Office (i.e. WINE), but it's not worth using for more than site testing.
The funniest part is the dialog box you get after installing that says, "Simulating Reboot."
There is no IE7 for Windows 98, ME, 2000, NT or anything but Windows XP....
True, assuming you mean XP and later (Windows Server 2003 isn't a big platform for web browsing, but IE7 is supported on it). Based on my site's stats (hardly scientific, I know), that limits them to an 81% maximum for now. This will grow as the remaining Win2k-and-older users drop off the radar. Whether enough people switch to offset that growth remains to be seen.
what's my motivation for taking the time to download FireFox
Extensions. IE 7 doesn't have AdBlock+, FlashBlock, Tab Mix +, session manager, live bookmarks, web developer toolbar, HTMLTidy source checker, HTTP live headers, Greasemonkey scripts, Slashdotter, or any number of a huge list of extremely handy utilities.
I believe there used to be a version of IE for Unix when I was at university
A version of IE 5 was available for HP-UX and Solaris. (Not SCO Unix, not AIX, and certainly not Linux or BSD!) I don't know whether it was closer to the Windows or Mac version, but if I were to guess, I'd say Windows.
It was discontinued in 2002.
Whats the motivation to download IE7 for features I already have with Firefox?
I can't speak for people in general; I can only describe why I switched to IE7. I primarily switched to Firefox for tabbed browsing. I endured Firefox frustrations that manifest on an XP machine, which include unreliable cut/paste and a frequent inability to scroll using arrow keys. I haven't seen this behavior on Linux, but it's much more convenient to run XP at work. So, when IE7 came out, I switched back because I got tabs and cut/paste. I still bring up Firefox when doing web development because of the web-developer extension, but for /.ing, it's IE7 for me.
FWIW, I find that IE7 and Firefox usually render identically. To date I've only seen one exception, but then I only do comparisons when I'm designing websites, which isn't too often. (In other words, IANA web-expert.)