3 ms·

Microsoft doesn't want IE to render the same as its contemporaries because then you don't need to test on IE anymore, which means you don't need Windows anymore

by netsp 17y ago

Microsoft doesn't want IE to render the same as its contemporaries because then you don't need to test on IE anymore, which means you don't need Windows anymore. Are you implying MS are purposely breaking IE in order to sell Windows licences to web developers? How many licenses exactly do you think are on the line here?

bengtan 17y ago
There's one here. I'm an Ubuntu user, but I have a paid copy of XP that I use in VMWare so I can test IE6 & 7. EDIT: But I'm probably an outlier.
- netsp 17y ago
  I'm not saying none exist. I have a windows machine that I use mostly for IE. But (a) I didn't buy it for that purpose, it already existed and (b) I would probably want to use sites I work on in IE even if it worked perfectly. It's the most popular browser. They don't have to break IE.
- ersi 17y ago
  You could try out "ie4linux" (unofficial, of course) http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Main_Page http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Main_Page I've heard it's nice, I think it's essential IE files and wine slapped into a pretty package - but I've also heard/seen that you can have several versions of IE for testing stuff out. Might.. be nice. I dunno.
  - cookiecaper 17y ago
    It's illegal to use Internet Explorer without a valid Windows license, even through Wine.
  - bengtan 17y ago
    I do also use ies4linux. It's quite good for testing how IE handles CSS layouts, but it doesn't render fonts the same way IE renders fonts on Windows (presumably because the fonts available differ on Ubuntu).
cookiecaper 17y ago
I am implying that. Microsoft's motivation behind IE is to exploit their dominant position to crowd out the rest of the competition. As I explain in my first post, compelling Windows licenses for testing (and, by the way, many are on the line, I think) is just a small part of the overall plan (possibly the only part that's working really well right now). Microsoft wants IE to be different because they hope that eventually companies will decide it's not worth the cost to support or utilize the technologies that have smaller marketshare. For a while, this worked with IE and there were large swaths of the web inaccessible through other browsers. Recently, it hasn't been working as well and in fact has been backfiring as frustration with Internet Explorer mounts and developers shy away from supporting it, or imbue it with lesser features, which is why IE is much more compatible than it used to be, but still not _quite_ there. This strategy still works well in other areas and has been part of Microsoft's philosophy for many years -- see the Halloween memos for more. Microsoft really has no incentive to continue Internet Explorer _except_ control. They leverage it to try to make Windows a requirement to browse the web, which would render OS X, Linux, and any other potential competitors comparatively useless for desktops. That's the mission and goal of Internet Explorer.

by netsp 17y ago

bengtan 17y ago

There's one here. I'm an Ubuntu user, but I have a paid copy of XP that I use in VMWare so I can test IE6 & 7. EDIT: But I'm probably an outlier.

netsp 17y ago
I'm not saying none exist. I have a windows machine that I use mostly for IE. But (a) I didn't buy it for that purpose, it already existed and (b) I would probably want to use sites I work on in IE even if it worked perfectly. It's the most popular browser. They don't have to break IE.
ersi 17y ago
You could try out "ie4linux" (unofficial, of course) http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Main_Page http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Main_Page I've heard it's nice, I think it's essential IE files and wine slapped into a pretty package - but I've also heard/seen that you can have several versions of IE for testing stuff out. Might.. be nice. I dunno.
- cookiecaper 17y ago
  It's illegal to use Internet Explorer without a valid Windows license, even through Wine.
- bengtan 17y ago
  I do also use ies4linux. It's quite good for testing how IE handles CSS layouts, but it doesn't render fonts the same way IE renders fonts on Windows (presumably because the fonts available differ on Ubuntu).

cookiecaper 17y ago

I am implying that. Microsoft's motivation behind IE is to exploit their dominant position to crowd out the rest of the competition. As I explain in my first post, compelling Windows licenses for testing (and, by the way, many are on the line, I think) is just a small part of the overall plan (possibly the only part that's working really well right now). Microsoft wants IE to be different because they hope that eventually companies will decide it's not worth the cost to support or utilize the technologies that have smaller marketshare. For a while, this worked with IE and there were large swaths of the web inaccessible through other browsers. Recently, it hasn't been working as well and in fact has been backfiring as frustration with Internet Explorer mounts and developers shy away from supporting it, or imbue it with lesser features, which is why IE is much more compatible than it used to be, but still not _quite_ there. This strategy still works well in other areas and has been part of Microsoft's philosophy for many years -- see the Halloween memos for more. Microsoft really has no incentive to continue Internet Explorer _except_ control. They leverage it to try to make Windows a requirement to browse the web, which would render OS X, Linux, and any other potential competitors comparatively useless for desktops. That's the mission and goal of Internet Explorer.