Image of killing Internet ExplorerIf you’re a web developer of any kind then you probably know what I am getting at. If not then I will explain why Internet Explorer is a piece of crap. No literally test it for yourself. If you are reading this blog in Internet Explorer (IE) I highly suggest you test your browser with the acid3 test. This test will evaluate your browser for its compatibility with the web standards today. I believe IE8 scores about 20/100, which is a major fail. I am using Firefox version 3.5.7 on my mac and it scored a 93/100 on the acid3 test. Not to mention both of the latest versions of Safari, Opera and Google Chrome score a perfect 100/100.

So why should anybody care? How does this affect the user and their experience on the web? Not a whole lot because us developers compensate for IE’s mistakes. This means more work for us to produce the same looking product. Which means businesses have to fork out more money to make their websites cross browser compatible. Sure there are advantages to this. This filters out the lower level web developers allowing us educated and hard working developers to get the job and work. This also allows us to get more money in the end.

But if we were to take a vote if IE should stay or go, it would be a unanimous decision to stab it in the heart with a stake, chop its head off and pour concrete in its shoes and toss it in the ocean. Maybe that was a little extreme. Or not.

So how does IE hold up to the market share? Well pretty damn good for one of the worst browsers out there. The following statistics are from wikipedia as of December 2009.

IE – 59.21%

Firefox – 28.29%

Chrome – 5.02%

Safari – 4.54%

Opera – 1.68%

Other – 1.26%

These statistics aren’t 100% accurate but they are fairly close. You can check out more detailed browser statistics on the Wikipedia’s website.

So how did this happen? Why is the worst browser the most popular? IE is that douche bag from high school who is just a prick to everyone and has the most friends. One major reason why IE is so popular is because there are more computers running a Windows OS on it. IE is already installed on your computer ready for you to browse the web with terrible functionality. But it works cause we me make it work and nobody gives a damn to get a different browser cause it doesn’t really matter if they do or don’t.

So down to the dirty stuff. I’ve bored you all with statistics and acid3 tests stats. Lets talk about killing this loser of a browser. Some theories have been talked about such as not building sites compatible for IE or making sites fancier in browsers that do well in the acid3 test. I don’t believe these suggestions are the best way to go about it. I believe the developers will just get hurt in the process. So I suggest this to you. This is more of a task for everyone to explain to people and educate those that know nothing about the web. This could be your parents, grandparents or that ditsy blonde you’re attracted to. Either way, try to convince them to switch to a more durable browser.

Persuade people through word of mouth I can imagine that this can be a little tough but lets go over how the conversation might go.

If they say they don’t care this conversation might go nowhere but try anyways. Lets not lie to them just in case they are smarter than you expected but try to get them to see things differently. For instance talk about the acid3 test and what it does, you can get that info here, and explain how poorly IE did compared to the other browsers. If they still don’t care then say this, “If a browser can’t even pass the acid3 test what makes you think they are a stable enough software to be secure enough to browse the web? I mean that’s just asking for problems don’t you think?” If they still refuse then punch them in the face. Just kidding. Instead take them to this wonderful article I found at Telegraph.co.uk

The more people that can agree to switching browsers the more convincing it sounds. Obviously nobody is going to switch when half the world uses IE. But what if half of the world uses chrome and only 25% of the people use IE. It would be a little easier to convince the IE users to switch their default browser.

This is going to take some teamwork outside of the Internet to convince the people around you. So lets kill this sucker together.

You’ve heard my suggestion so whats yours?