Negligible browsers

Linc

I've seen people reporting that IE4's presence on the internet will be "negligible" by the end of the year, meaning well less than half a percent of people will be using it. It's also being said that Netscape 4 will (finally) be negligible by something like mid-2005.

With reports like this, do you think it's safe to stop testing sites in those browsers and writing "tricks" for them after those dates?

Personally, unless I'm truly desperate for attention from all users, I think those are as a good of dates as any to finally let the people using those old, twisted bits of software know that the time has come to let go and upgrade. (And if they can't, they're SOL). The site I'm currently creating will be for a specific (generally tech-savvy) audience, so I definitely will not be coding for those people.

Shorty

I think it's fair to say that if they are still using such antiquated versions of the aforementioned browser, they can't surf alot of sites.

Although the official line is that we should, with so many other sites dropping support.. it's only a matter of time until the diehards are finally moved to the newer technology.

Id be more concerned with testing a site under Mac browsers like Safari and Linux browsers like Galleon.. than wondering if it works in Netscape 4.

Kwitko

I code for a minimum IE 5.0 and Netscape 6, and for a minimum screen resolution of 800x600.