Category General

Browser Compatibility

Why You Shouldn’t Use Internet Explorer

Microsoft Internet Explorer has had a good ride. It’s had fun while it lasted. However, I’m afraid now the only reason they have any sort of a market share is because Microsoft sells it’s desktop & laptops so cheap that if you were to open a office or currently have one it’s not worth the hassle to switch.

With a variety of new web technologies like HTML5, the 8th edition of Internet Explorer for example doesn’t support it. With 19%  of the websites out there now being run on WordPress (this will only increase) we find that earlier versions of Internet Explorer find it hard to process load around 60% of these sites if compatibility issues are not addressed properly. Compatibility testing is needed to make sure your site works on Internet Explorer whereas Chrome, Firefox & Safari all work perfectly fine each time.

Whats the reason for this?

Google & Mozilla for example pay independent security researchers to check for bugs. Microsoft don’t do this. They are such a big corporation now that they work in house to fix issues and therefore aren’t motivated to change. They also fix bugs on a schedule, whereas other browsers are more fluid & allow changes to be made whenever they are needed.

Market share decrease

Have a look at the below graph, you can see how IE’s share has decreased substantially over the last few years

In September 2008, IE had 67.16%, Google Chrome had 1.03%, Mozilla’s Firefox had 25.77% & Apples Safari had 3.00%. Now from last month, October 2013 IE has 28.96%, Chrome 40.44%, Firefox 18.11% & Safari 8.54%. As you can see by these stats the shift is significant.

StatCounter-browser-ww-monthly-200807-201310

How is this going to stop?

In my personal opinion the rise of Mobile & the poor usability of Internet Explorer will only mean the decline will not stop. It will eventually become redundant. The functionality of IE has been imporved in the newer additions & they have gone back to the drawing board to build from scratch but I still don’t think this will be enough to stop the decline when Google & Mozilla’s absolute priority is making sure their browser is the best.

How does it affect your business

If you are a business owner and are getting a website built you need to make sure there is compatibility testing, if a potential customer reaches your site & bits of it don’t work they will be instantly put off and you will lose business.

Our Advice

If you are a business owner & your staff current use IE. Make the change to Google Chrome. It’s quick, virus free & easy to use. Having Internet Explorer will only cause issues and frustration for less tech savvy members of staff that don’t know there are any other options out there.

 

instagram-video-still

Embedding Instagram Videos

Instagram have finally decided to join the video game, probably just as you were considering getting Vine App now that it’s available on Android devices now.

Have a read of the Guardian article HERE that talks about the battle between the Facebook owned Instagram and Twitter backed Vine.

If you want to learn how to embed videos then have a look at the Mashable guide HERE, it’s much more complicated than embedding a vine, however it is possible. We think Instagram will catch up soon.

CSS3 Text Shadow

CSS3 Text Shadow

If you want to add a shadow effect to your HTML text then follow the simple ‘how to‘ below. Adding the shadow is easy and can really transform your text, making your design look fresh and creative.


How to add the CSS3 text-shadow

Just add the following line of code to your existing CSS file:

h1 { text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em #000; }

Easy!