[Authors] IE9 & IE Compatibility Requirements

Hi all, there was another thread asking whether or not IE9 compatibility would be required now that it’s been released. I thought I’d answer that question in a more official thread and go ahead and answer another question… when can we drop compatibility for IE7 ?

IE9 Compatibility
So, I’ve spoken with Mark and we’ve agreed that we’ll hold off on requiring IE9 compatibility for a few months for the following reasons.

1) We want to give our authors some time to get familiar with IE9 , prepare their testing platforms, start getting existing items ready, etc.

2) IE9 (although I haven’t checked yet) will probably have some issues right out of the gate (and long into the future if MS’s history is any indication), so some extra time will help get some of those “bugs” out of the way.

IE7 Compatibility
Now, about IE7 . It’s about time we drop the requirement for IE7 compatibility. Its marketshare is under 10% and is continually dropping, likely faster with the release of IE9 . Plus, when we take into consideration HTML5 and all the fancy new stuff many of us are already using, it’s time to give IE7 the boot. As of today, IE7 compatibility is no longer a requirement.

If you have any questions, just let us know. Thanks!

In february, 2011 this percentage of w3schools visitors used the following browsers:

2011 Total IE 9 IE 8 IE 7 IE 6 February 26.5 % 0.6 % 16.7 % 5.7 % 3.5 %

5.7% is something we need to accommodate. I don’t think you should have to, but it’s something to be considered.

Great news about IE7 . I hate that browser.

landonw said
In february, 2011 this percentage of w3schools visitors used the following browsers:

2011 Total IE 9 IE 8 IE 7 IE 6 February 26.5 % 0.6 % 16.7 % 5.7 % 3.5 %

5.7% is something we need to accommodate. I don’t think you should have to, but it’s something to be considered.

Make note of the fact that those stats are for w3schools’ visitors only. Each site will have different statistics. I’ve read that globally it’s closer to 9%.

I would agree, though, that it’s still very much worth accommodating. It was the same when we first dropped IE6 .

I would rather support IE9 then IE7 . Great news for authors.

That’s great news! IE7 was becoming the new IE6 . Anyways, IE9 it’s full of issues. First thing I recommend it’s upgrade jQuery to v1.5.1. It fixes some IE9 bugs.

Good news all round. Although IE9 is pretty bad at least the JS performance is better than it’s predecessors.

landonw said
In february, 2011 this percentage of w3schools visitors used the following browsers:

2011 Total IE 9 IE 8 IE 7 IE 6 February 26.5 % 0.6 % 16.7 % 5.7 % 3.5 %

5.7% is something we need to accommodate. I don’t think you should have to, but it’s something to be considered.

And who are the visitors of w3schools? Mainly web developers and other people who know what a real browser is. So the value of this statistic is very low for me

Glad to see that TF will be dropping support for IE7 soon.

But, I am afraid, this new IE9 crap will be horrible.

rvision_ said
But, I am afraid, this new IE9 crap will be horrible.

It is already