Why Internet Explorer is bad for the Internet experience
Ask anyone who knows me and they will probably tell you that I rant too much about Internet Explorer and how bad it is for the Internet. Others will probably tell you that I am anti-Microsoft and an Apple fanboy. Apple fanboy I may be, but anti-Microsoft I am not. I think Microsoft has some great products like Microsoft Office and the Xbox 360. I think now is the time for me to bust out some facts and figures and maybe convince you that the Internet can be so much better with any browser besides Internet Explorer.
Why can I only see Internet Explorer on my computer?
Part of the problem is that everyone’s computer comes pre-loaded with Internet Explorer (if you bought a Windows-based computer). All you Mac users out there can probably skip this entire blog post. Internet Explorer doesn’t even have a Mac version. The average computer user knows that clicking on the blue E gets you on the internet and away you go. You actually have to go out of your way to install a different browser. I can’t blame Microsoft for doing this. I’m sure in their mind if Google wants Chrome as the default browser, Google needs to create their own operating system (which they are doing). Anyway, the number of Internet users using a browser other than Internet Explorer is growing rapidly.
As you can see, IE held 68% of the browser market in September 2008, but dropped to 44% over the last three years. Firefox and Safari have kept steady, and Chrome has exploded in popularity. So why the fall of Internet Explorer and rise of Chrome?
Browser speed
This is one of those things that is tough to measure. It depends on many factors including hardware, homepage, history, bookmarks, toolbars, etc. Based on my experience and a few reports that I have read, Chrome beats all the browsers in start-up time. Right now on my computer the start-up times are:
Chrome 14.0 – 2 seconds
Firefox 6.0 – 4 seconds
IE 9 – 5 seconds
Now consider the fact that I never use IE or Firefox, those start-up times are based on no history, bookmarks, or toolbars, and use the classic Google homepage. I have installed Chrome on some machines and seen an 8-10 second improvement in start-up times. This might not seem like a lot, but if you’re opening the internet like me 50-100 times a day, it makes a difference.
All those toolbars
Oh boy, all those toolbars. Where do they come from? It seems they come packaged in 90% of all free software, from coupon software, AVG Anti-virus, Google, Yahoo, Ask.com, and Fox News to name a few.
The crazy thing is they ask you during the install process if you want to install the toolbar, and people just ignore it and keep installing. Now the toolbar people are smart and have the toolbar installation check box already checked. I guess they figure you’re not paying attention to what you are doing. This brings me to why I love Chrome so much. It doesn’t allow toolbars. It’s clean appearance give me lots of webpage viewing room.
Why do webpages look different in Internet Explorer?
This is probably my biggest problem with Internet Explorer, and it originates from doing web design. Without getting too technical I will try to explain what I mean.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an industry group that creates design standards for all elements of Internet-based communications. They are trying to standardize web design, which makes development easier. As a web user you should be able to view any webpage from any browser and they all look the same. This isn’t the case. Microsoft has always been last in incorporating standards into their browsers. They made a giant leap in IE9 and seem to be making an even bigger leap in IE 10 (released with Windows 8), but still fall short with the other browsers. What does this mean to you, the average web user? It means that some enhancements to web pages will not be seen if viewing from IE. Does this really matter, you’re getting the same information but with a duller webpage? Well I think it does. With some of the new CSS3 properties, web designers can create visual effects that would have previously required images. This means as a developer I have two choices: Create a website using graphics that slows down the website, or make all my sites look good on most major browsers except IE. Most web designers are choosing the latter. Here is a list of some great CSS3 and HTML5 features that don’t work in IE9:
- Border Image
- Text Shadow
- CSS Animations
- CSS Reflections
- CSS Gradients
- CSS Columns
- CSS Transitions
- Audio: ogg/vorbis
- Audio: wav
Now what should I do?
I would suggest you download Chrome since it is my favorite. Other choices would include Safari or Firefox. If you are dead set on continuing to use Internet Explorer, at least upgrade to the newest version that your operating system will allow (XP users can only go up to IE8).