I'm really sorry, but this site doesn't look as good as it should when viewed with Internet Explorer. I hate the idea that this site doesn't work in all browsers - sites that only work in one browser or other are harking back to the bad old days of computing where you needed a particular computer and software to do one job and a whole other set for another. Thankfully, things have moved on and we now have general purpose computers and choice of software.
That is, until Internet Explorer.
Web technology has long been trying to adopt and use open standards. It's also been moving towards a separation of content and presentation. This has so many advantages for usability and accessibility that it's hard to ignore. Software vendors and web designers are working hard to get these ideas into common use.
Then there came Internet Explorer. This browser is so bug ridden, unsecure and so flawed in just about every aspect of it's implementation of any kind of standards that it holds up any progress the world might be trying to achieve. The vast numbers of people that use IE mean that all web sites that ever hope to get visitors have to support it. However, as any web site designer or web application developer will tell you, you get your whole thing working, and then find that umpteen bugs in IE trip you up.
The failings of IE are well documented on the Internet. A couple of web searches for "IE bugs" will yield thousands and thousands of responses. Probably the largest number of bugs it has are in it's implementation of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Thousands of people have had to work with this, and many of them have found bugs and in many cases some kind of workaround to the problem. We're left with then needing to develop, and then apply all sorts of IE workaround hacks that deviate from the proper standards.
So anyway, I've been hacking about with this site for hours, and I think I've got it looking and working pretty well. Then, I try it in IE. All kinds of things are broken in all kinds of ways. To resolve this situation, I've tried numerous CSS hacks, but by and large just found that IE persisted in doing things it's way. I've ended up doing "browser checking" and selecting different CSS files depending on which browser you're using. Pretty cheesy, incredibly high maintenance, and prone to screwing up in lots of ways.
Quand courez-vous un risque ?
Une étude indépendante montre que, en 2006, les utilisateurs d'Internet Explorer étaient vulnérables aux menaces en ligne 78% du temps. Et les utilisateurs de Firefox ? Seulement 2% du temps.
« Un risque » est défini comme un exploit publiquement connu pour lequel il n'y a aucun correctif. Source : « Les utilisateurs d'Internet Explorer en danger pendant 284 jours en 2006 »
Brian Krebs, Washington Post, 1/4/2007
As if all that wasn't enough, we get to IE's pathetic security capabilities. The absolute abortion of an idea, ActiveX has so many horrific security flaws in it that the browser becomes a real liability for anyone who uses it. So, Microsoft have botched a solution: instead of securing ActiveX, all programmatic elements can be switched on or off. They're off by default, which is why Internet Explorer grumbles about ActiveX and security settings when you load a page containing ActiveX or Java applets.
The thing that annoys me about this is that I could install a widget using a small bit of Java. Java was designed with security in mind, unlike ActiveX which was designed with fresh air in mind (see this Advisory of 07/07/2008 for Access 2003...).
"Not 24 hours after the release of IE7, Secunia reports Internet Explorer Arbitrary Content Disclosure Vulnerability. So much for the "you wanted it easier and more secure" slogan found on Microsoft's IE Website."
So there we are. I've tried, trust me, I've really tried to accommodate IE. But the truth is I just don't have enough years left in my life. It would take you a whole lot less time to download a decent browser and use that. Failing that, you'll just have to put up with the little imperfections you'll find because you're watching through dirty glasses.
Adapted thanksfully from CooferCat
This is a short summary of links demonstrating what happens when you use Internet Explorer on today's web :
Internet Explorer CSS bugs
Internet Explorer bugs
Exploder (vulnerabilities)
Wiki on Internet Explorer bugs
a sample of why IE's faulty box model breaks this site
This is a short summary of educating/entertaining links :
Kill Bill's Browser (seriously)
Looks fine in IE, but...
Looks fine in IE, but... (full version)
| browser | size | technical details |
| IE 6.0 SP1 | 12 MB (77,5 MB disk) | comes with a lot of dangerous thingies you didn't request and probably don't want on a clean computer ! (Windows Scripting Engine, Outlook Express, ActiveX, Visual Basic Script, etc) PLUS its default settings are DANGEROUS for YOU. See Security Advisories 50% of the 114 security vulnerabilities already discovered provide access to the system and sensitive information ; 21% of them are still unpatched. (the Open Source concurrent has between 7% and 12% unpatched level on 26 advisories) |
| IE 7 | 14,7 MB (? disk) | idem, bigger, greedier (64MB RAM minimum) , less secure ("beta" quality), and which had no success at all in replacing IE6 (replacement rate IE7/IE6 at most 15%) See Security Advisories 54% of the 7 security vulnerabilities already discovered provide access to the system and sensitive information ; 43% of them are still unpatched. (the Open Source concurrent has 100% patched level on 3 advisories) |
| Firefox 2 | 7 MB (23 MB disk) | downloaded more than 585 millions times, CSS2+ support almost perfect, the reference browser until June 2008. Between 25% and 55% market depending on the country. 5 times less Security Advisories than IE, none "highly critical" (against 13% for IE), 12% unpatched (against 21% unpatched for IE) |
| Firefox 3 | 7,2 MB (23,9 MB disk) | idem, even better, faster, safer (anti phishing, anti forgery...). Guiness Book Record for download of 8 million copies in 24 hours (homologated) with more than 30% replacement rate FX3/FX2 in 5 days and already 10% of visits, not only by replacing FX2, but even better with gaining net new market shares. more than 2 times less Security Advisories than IE7, 100% patched (against 43% unpatched for IE7) |
So if you want to try a faster, secure, and standards-compliant browser, then try the link below ;-)
You won't lose anything, from favorites/bookmarks, saved passwords, cookies and history data, and upgrading from IE is a matter of seconds. You will at last have the tabbed browsing facility, better security & privacy control over what your browser is allowed to do or not, the best standards compliance level, a faster browsing, pop-up, ads, flash blocking, automatic updates (if you want), a lot of available extensions, and this for free.
Fully downloaded more than 714 Million
times
Market Shares and Browser War / Parts de Marché et Guerre des Navigateurs
Security Advisories per browser and per period Latest Internet Stats Latest Market Studies Top
Current Internet Statistics / Statistiques Internet Security Advisories per browser and per period Browser War Latest Market Studies Top
visits from crawlers (mostly search engines) are not included in the statistics below.
Current Internet Stats (for January 2008)
| Market share | Browser |
|---|---|
| 52% | Gecko based |
| 40% | Internet Explorer based |
| 5.2% | KHTML based |
| 2.4% | Opera |
| 0.030% | NetFront |
| 0.010% | IBrowse |
| 0.0055% | Nokia (embedded) |
| 0.0039% | WebTV |
| 0.0037% | Blackberry (embedded) |
| 0.0014% | Lynx |
| 0.0011% | Links based |
| 0.00046% | NTTDoCoMo (embedded) |
| 0.00046% | w3m |
| 0.00023% | AWeb |
| 0.00023% | Dillo |
| 0.00023% | Tkhtml based |
Stats Internet 2007
| Market share | Browser |
|---|---|
| 50% (+11%) | Mozilla, Firefox |
| 40% (-15%) | Internet Explorer |
| 6.7% | KHTML based |
| 2.9% | Opera |
| 0.4% | Autres/Others |
Stats Internet 2006
| Market share | Browser |
|---|---|
| 55% (-8%) | Internet Explorer |
| 39% (+7%) | Mozilla, Firefox |
| 3.5% | KHTML based |
| 2.2% | Opera |
| 0.3% | Autres/Others |
Stats Internet 2005
| Market share | Browser |
|---|---|
| 62% (-4%) | Internet Explorer |
| 32% (+4%) | Mozilla, Firefox |
| 3.6% | KHTML based |
| 2.3% | Opera |
| 0.1% | Autres/Others |
Stats Internet 2004
| Market share | Browser |
|---|---|
| 66% (-14%) | Internet Explorer |
| 28% (+11%) | Mozilla, Firefox |
| 2.8% | KHTML based |
| 2.4% | Opera |
| 0.8% | Autres/Others |
Stats Internet 2003
| Market share | Browser |
|---|---|
| 80% | Internet Explorer |
| 17% | Gecko-Based (Mozilla, Firefox, Phoenix, Firebird) |
| 2.0% | KHTML based |
| 1.0% | Opera |
| 0% | Autres/Others |
Latest Market Studies / Dernières études de marché Security Advisories per browser and per period Browser War Latest Internet Statistics Top
XiTi dit (Décembre 2007)
Tendance européenne : après une phase de stabilisation, Mozilla Firefox termine 2007 par une nouvelle avancée…XiTi dit (Décembre 2007)
… alors qu’Internet Explorer perd encore un peu de terrain en décembre 2007
Entre novembre et décembre 2007, la part de visites de Mozilla Firefox progresse dans 90% des pays européens étudiés, la Finlande toujours en tête
La part de visites de Mozilla Firefox pour la moyenne des pays européens du périmètre XiTi a augmenté de 5 points entre décembre 2006 et décembre 2007.
Moins de la moitié des visites d’Internet Explorer se font via IE7, contre 93% pour Firefox 2 au sein de Mozilla Firefox La part de visites moyenne de Mozilla Firefox en Europe, après une phase de stabilisation, croît à nouveau en décembre 2007 pour atteindre 28%. Quelques mois avant la sortie officielle de la version 3 de Firefox, l’adoption de Firefox 2 par sa famille est clairement entérinée alors qu’Internet Explorer 7 peine toujours à convaincre…
Real-time Security Advisories by concurrent major browser, with number, criticality, patching status and type of impact.
Alertes de sécurité en temps réel par navigateur majeur, avec nombre, criticité, état de correction et type d'impact.
Latest Market Shares Browser War Latest Internet Statistics Top
| IE 7 against FX 3 in 2008 | |
| IE 6 against FX 2 in 2006-2008 | |
| IE 6 against FX 1 in 2003-2008 | |
| IE 5.5 against FX 1 in 2003-2008 | |