3 ms·

Nothing will ever bring back hours of IE6 workaround time, or change my mind about using a Windows computer. Cumulatively, developers and clients paid millions

Nothing will ever bring back hours of IE6 workaround time, or change my mind about using a Windows computer. Cumulatively, developers and clients paid millions in billable hours for their neglect in monopoly. They couldn't warm up to me even if they swapped their board of directors with Sesame Street characters.

mattmanser 16y ago
And all the man-years you saved users by using XMLHttpRequest? Otherwise known as AJAX? Or have you conveniently forgotten which browser that was introduced in? One day you should download the version of Netscape that was around when IE6 came out.
- rbanffy 16y ago
  You must be talking about the Msxml2.XMLHTTP ActiveX object that wasn't called XMLHttpRequest until the fine Mozilla lads decided calling ActiveX objects was not such a good idea (and wouldn't work in more... civilized operating systems), right? Of course, Microsoft later added the proper XMLHttpRequest support that was lacking in until IE7, IIRC.
- some1else 16y ago
  You're correct, during their browser war with Netscape, IE was introducing revolutionary features, albeit not all standards based. They even implemented web fonts in IE4 if I'm not mistaken. And then they sat on it for 4 years, refusing to fully implement the CSS 2.1 spec, refusing to fix ridiculous positioning bugs, and even refusing to fix security flaws that they mandated non-critical, although several of them used together often lead to arbitrary code execution on the client. Like it is with User Experience in general, they ruined all the positive cred they had with IE6, causing standards-aware web devs to develop for the lowest-common denominator or invest their own time on every project for Microsoft's technical debt. It's not fair that IE6 quirking was a required skill and a to-do for web developers, only because Microsoft had a browser share monopoly. Was it to slow down the evolution towards applications/operating system in the cloud? Mere negligence? I don't care anymore, they broke my heart.
  - yuhong 16y ago
    >and even refusing to fix security flaws that they mandated non-critical, although several of them used together often lead to arbitrary code execution on the client. Source? Anyway, even worse, back in the IE 5.x era when they added most of that stuff like XMLHTTPRequest etc., they focused on that instead of complying with even basic CSS1! (Yes, it was better than Netscape 4, but that was because the JSSS/CSS fiasco that resulted in was a lot worse) IE6 added DOCTYPE switching and a "standards" mode with better CSS1 compliance, but I don't think they touched the buggy CSS2 support, and during the time they sat on it, guess what people did with it that caused trouble when MS released IE7 that fixed some of these bugs?
fforw 16y ago
Not to mention that their newest, more standards-compatible browser is not available for their older OSes, ensuring we still have a nice long ride with their old crap browsers.

mattmanser 16y ago

And all the man-years you saved users by using XMLHttpRequest? Otherwise known as AJAX? Or have you conveniently forgotten which browser that was introduced in? One day you should download the version of Netscape that was around when IE6 came out.

rbanffy 16y ago
You must be talking about the Msxml2.XMLHTTP ActiveX object that wasn't called XMLHttpRequest until the fine Mozilla lads decided calling ActiveX objects was not such a good idea (and wouldn't work in more... civilized operating systems), right? Of course, Microsoft later added the proper XMLHttpRequest support that was lacking in until IE7, IIRC.
some1else 16y ago
You're correct, during their browser war with Netscape, IE was introducing revolutionary features, albeit not all standards based. They even implemented web fonts in IE4 if I'm not mistaken. And then they sat on it for 4 years, refusing to fully implement the CSS 2.1 spec, refusing to fix ridiculous positioning bugs, and even refusing to fix security flaws that they mandated non-critical, although several of them used together often lead to arbitrary code execution on the client. Like it is with User Experience in general, they ruined all the positive cred they had with IE6, causing standards-aware web devs to develop for the lowest-common denominator or invest their own time on every project for Microsoft's technical debt. It's not fair that IE6 quirking was a required skill and a to-do for web developers, only because Microsoft had a browser share monopoly. Was it to slow down the evolution towards applications/operating system in the cloud? Mere negligence? I don't care anymore, they broke my heart.
- yuhong 16y ago
  >and even refusing to fix security flaws that they mandated non-critical, although several of them used together often lead to arbitrary code execution on the client. Source? Anyway, even worse, back in the IE 5.x era when they added most of that stuff like XMLHTTPRequest etc., they focused on that instead of complying with even basic CSS1! (Yes, it was better than Netscape 4, but that was because the JSSS/CSS fiasco that resulted in was a lot worse) IE6 added DOCTYPE switching and a "standards" mode with better CSS1 compliance, but I don't think they touched the buggy CSS2 support, and during the time they sat on it, guess what people did with it that caused trouble when MS released IE7 that fixed some of these bugs?

fforw 16y ago

Not to mention that their newest, more standards-compatible browser is not available for their older OSes, ensuring we still have a nice long ride with their old crap browsers.