Conscious Decision to not Support IE

[jacksbileduct]

I've been developing software for over 25 years and have been doing web development for the past 10. I'm an entrepreneur with several web services, some commercial, some not. While putting together a new service this week, non-commerical, I reached my breaking point with Internet Explorer and made a conscious decision to just not support it with this latest site. It just sucks up too much of my time. So now when users log into my site using IE they will see the following message: http://i.imgur.com/WuZnI.png

I'm not forcing my users to use another browser to view my site, simply informing them that IE isn't specifically supported and then I encourage them to try another browser, explaining the benefits.

I'd like to try to turn this into a movement. I've already registered a domain name to support it. I understand that commercial sites' survival probably depend on supporting IE, but there are a lot of sites out there that aren't commercial that could help.

Am I wrong in thinking that the majority of web developers out there feel the same way as I do?

Am I naive in thinking that web developers could actually make a difference by educating the web browsing public?

What do you think?

Thanks for your time.

[hericles]

First question is who is your target market for the website? IE is still the main browser for people with more limited PC skills (they haven't even managed to download a better browser for example). If your target market includes such people (i.e. possibly older, less educated, etc) then maybe you should be catering to them more. There is definitely the potential that some users will read that and head elsewhere but I don't think that kind of response will occur often (based on nothing but my own opinion).

[JorgeM]

While I completely understand what your objective is here, I beleive that the majority of users that access web sites are not really interested in the short coming of any particular browser. They just expect to access a web page and get to the desired content. I would also tend to think that in many cases, if a user access a web page (unless its one of the top 10 list of websites accessed) and the desired result is not provided, they will just close the tab on the browser, revist a search engine and go to the next site on the list.

We have seen other browsers aside from IE start to grow in popularity and I think that as more and more users begin to use other browsers, it will force MS to provide users with the experience they are expecting. It may take some time, but I think we'll get there.

[almostbob]

Agree with the above users' posts,
my site logs, a general commerce site, show 76% IE users
block IE, not supported, lose 76% of visitorss, not a plan.
tell anybody what to do, for any reason, get only negative publicity, not a plan

[stultuske]

well ... if I may quote JorgeM here:

I beleive that the majority of users that access web sites are not really interested in the short coming of any particular browser. They just expect to access a web page and get to the desired content.

even though I get your point, you should also understand that,
1. it is way harde to have IE actually show the desired content than any other browser out there
2. as soon as more developers reach the same point as jacksbileduct (actually, most of the developers have, it's just management that usually won't allow them to stop supporting IE), it won't be long before Microsoft either caves and build a decent browser, OR IE just won't be able to 'get the desired content'.

I've worked on several webapplications for several employers, and supporting IE takes more time then maintaining a stable version, which really shouldn't be the case. Yes, indeed, at this point, there are still numerous people who don't know better than to use IE, but that number gets smaller every single day, while the number of the others increases. why doesn't that automatically show in the percentages? for a lot of "screw the internet, I've got a life" folk, reading their email and some blogs is about 'what they do', the wife or husband will take care of the online billings, and that group 'll be perfectly satisfied with IE. IE also comes standard with windows, yeah, tragedy, so even if they install a new browser, they still (in most cases) have IE installed, and will use it from time to time. me, for instance, I have to use it, just to check whether or not IE doesn't decide to screw up my code. and, since it usually does, I have to re-test (and you can almost hear those percentages rising!!)

the number of those who choose for different browsers, because they are well informed and able to install a better alternative, it doesn't walk ahead, it jumps. and for those people who don't, most of them have got a brother/son/daughter/grandchild, who'll be all too happy to explain it (or install it themselves).

Since Jack isn't forcing his users to use another browser, personally, I think still have it 'work' on IE is a nice gesture. If I go the baker, and I have to choose to put my bread into a plastic or a paper bag, I don't choose on which is closest, I choose on which will hold it the longest.

IE is not the most reliable browser out there, it's not the most user friendly and it sure as hell isn't the fastest.

Jack, you've got my vote, and I hope management over here will agree with me in a not too distant future, it would make our lives a lot easier, too.

[pritaeas]

Am I wrong in thinking that the majority of web developers out there feel the same way as I do?

I am positive most feel the same way.

Am I naive in thinking that web developers could actually make a difference by educating the web browsing public?

Yes. Most users don't know and certainly don't care about how some technology works. They just want to see it work.

What do you think?

I agree with your point, but my user base depends on IE for a large part, so I could never abandon it, even if I wanted to.

[JameB]

I don't see how it's difficult for you to make you site IE compatible.

Although I don't have a degree in computer science, or a job in the field, I know programming and web development. I've developed a couple of sites for offline and online uses. Making them compatible on ALL of the browsers was never an issue for me.

To be honest, you're shooting yourself in the foot by doing things like these...