I look at the release of IE8 as the final gravestone of the first browser war. With it, all major browsers take standards seriously and you can create most websites in CSS without resorting to hacks and versioning.
I see this as the perfect opportunity to spread the word about browser upgrades to non-savvy friends without screeching about the superiority of one browser over another. You want to stick with IE? Super, I don't care. Just upgrade, PLEASE.
Nice article and included observations. I have yet to download IE8... been so very busy. Doing so tonight hopefully.
Matt said it: "With it, all major browsers take standards seriously and you can create most websites in CSS without resorting to hacks and versioning."
In my opinion this is the greatest achievement, developers have needed this for so long. Gone are the days soon, hopefully, of the <!--ie fix--> within code.
Hopefully users upgrade soon. The progression can't happen soon enough.
I would also say that it matters very little how fast the initial adoption takes place. Now that it's out, uptake is inevitable. Hardware only lasts so long, and new machines will be shipping with IE8 soon enough. They have planted the milestone deep into the ground, and everyone shall pass by it.
Im a programmer and at work we recieved the word to NOT DOWNLOAD IE8 until we are asked to do so. It may takes serverall months before we get the "OK".
If other bisness act like that its sure to slow down the rate of IE8 upgrade.
All businesses do that to some degree. Big businesses are always last to adopt. The bigger the company is, the longer it takes to approve new stuff. It's a risk to do a software upgrade.
The home user doesn't have to worry so much, if IE8 borks their system, they can reinstall. If IE8 borks a major corporation's entire PC network, they could lose millions in productivity and time. They need to make completely sure that it's okay for them before anyone installs it.
IE8 is great and I intend to push the update on all my friends/family who refuse to use anything other than IE (*facepalm*).
Now that we are getting all caught up with CSS 2.1 support, that's fantastic. But CSS3 support is going to be a slippery slope as well. From what I can tell Gecko, Webkit, Opera, and IE all have different priorities of what CSS3 elements should be supported in the "first phase". Then again, I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise. Uggggh.
Not everyone. There are some people who refuse to upgrade.
After spending the last 17 years in the IT field, both professionally and privately, I have **ZERO sympathy for those that don't take the time to properly upgrade their machines, specially when most upgrades are free.
Let those that refuse to upgrade go the way of the dinosaurs....
EDIT: ** One Caveat - With respects to businesses and coporations - upgrades and new software must be tested 1st. But these organization still understand the necessity of proper upgrades.
Linc
OwnerDetroit Icrontian
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I see this as the perfect opportunity to spread the word about browser upgrades to non-savvy friends without screeching about the superiority of one browser over another. You want to stick with IE? Super, I don't care. Just upgrade, PLEASE.
Matt said it: "With it, all major browsers take standards seriously and you can create most websites in CSS without resorting to hacks and versioning."
In my opinion this is the greatest achievement, developers have needed this for so long. Gone are the days soon, hopefully, of the <!--ie fix--> within code.
Hopefully users upgrade soon. The progression can't happen soon enough.
If other bisness act like that its sure to slow down the rate of IE8 upgrade.
The home user doesn't have to worry so much, if IE8 borks their system, they can reinstall. If IE8 borks a major corporation's entire PC network, they could lose millions in productivity and time. They need to make completely sure that it's okay for them before anyone installs it.
Now that we are getting all caught up with CSS 2.1 support, that's fantastic. But CSS3 support is going to be a slippery slope as well. From what I can tell Gecko, Webkit, Opera, and IE all have different priorities of what CSS3 elements should be supported in the "first phase". Then again, I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise. Uggggh.
After spending the last 17 years in the IT field, both professionally and privately, I have **ZERO sympathy for those that don't take the time to properly upgrade their machines, specially when most upgrades are free.
Let those that refuse to upgrade go the way of the dinosaurs....
EDIT: ** One Caveat - With respects to businesses and coporations - upgrades and new software must be tested 1st. But these organization still understand the necessity of proper upgrades.