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Charlie Osborne
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IE8 released at Mix; will it cripple the web-user experience?

By | March 19, 2009, 5:15am PDT

Summary: The next generation of Internet Explorer, once the leading web browser in the world, has just been updated to version 8 and released at Mix 2009. While many will rejoice at the new browser; updated features, porn mode, tab recovery and better web standards, the last one has been a controversy from day one. The web [...]

The next generation of Internet Explorer, once the leading web browser in the world, has just been updated to version 8 and released at Mix 2009. While many will rejoice at the new browser; updated features, porn mode, tab recovery and better web standards, the last one has been a controversy from day one.

The web standards debate has sparked mass protest and anger from thousands, if not tens of thousands of people.

To break it down simply, previous versions such as Internet Explorer 6 and 7 have not had web standards compatibility installed, and most web developers optimise their websites for IE6, IE7 and Firefox - the three main web browsers used on the market - and are customised to look visually pleasing in these browsers. Now IE8 has web standards installed, a lot of websites appear broken or parts missing because the customisation in the websites code makes the site literally appear as it should, but not how the developer intended.

Gallery
To see a screenshot gallery of some of the errors encountered by the new web standards in Internet Explorer 8, click here.

Microsoft are telling developers to add code to websites which tells IE8 to assume the site isn’t up to the web standards and to view in compatibility mode. However, there are only around 2,400 websites at the time of going to press which were configured this way. Many major corporate and visited websites, including a number of Microsoft ones, ironically, are still broken in IE8 as a result.

Many argue that developers, regardless of large or small websites, should face the music and adapt their websites to suit all browsers; after all, that is what web standards are for. Yet others would argue that, for a next generation browser, that it should give users the option to decide for themselves. Not everyone has realised yet that you can. Here’s how:

  • If the menu bar doesn’t appear in Internet Explorer 8, press the Alt key.
  • Go to Tools > Compatibility View Settings.
  • Make sure the two check boxes at the bottom of the dialog box are checked, then hit Close.

For those who want to avoid the impending web browsing experience massacre, you can always switch to another browser.

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Topics

Web, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Web Site, Web Browser, Web Standard, Web Site Development, Web Browsers, Web Technology, Channel Management, Internet, Marketing, Zack Whittaker

Zack Whittaker, a criminologist who studied at the University of Kent, Canterbury, is a journalist, writer and broadcaster.

Disclosure

Zack Whittaker

I worked briefly with Microsoft UK in 2006 but no longer have any connection with the company. Regardless, I remain impartial and unbiased in my views.

I don't hold any stock or shares, investments or industrial secrets in any company, but have signed confidentiality agreements with a number of UK and U.S. organisations, whose names I am not at liberty to disclose.

I was involved with Kent Union, the University of Kent's student union, undertaking voluntary, non-salaried, elected positions between early 2009 and mid-2010.

No other company, body, government department, non-governmental organisation or third sector organisation employs me or pays me a salary in any capacity whatsoever.

As a freelance journalist, whenever expenses are given and taken by a company that is not CBS Interactive, these will be disclosed in each relevant post to ensure transparency.

I currently work with a UK law enforcement unit, but this is an entirely separate position which bears no connection to other work.

(Updated: 23rd October 2011)

Biography

Zack Whittaker

Zack Whittaker, criminologist who studied at the University of Kent, UK, is a journalist, writer and broadcaster.

After studying criminology at university, though still in his early-20's, he has already had a series unconventional work and voluntary positions. He has worked with researchers studying neurological illnesses like Tourette's syndrome (which he suffers from), has given lectures on the nature of disabilities in the public community, and occasionally ends up speaking on television and radio discussing the events of the day.

He first had academic work published at the age of 22, then still an undergraduate, and has been cited by a wide range of publications: from the Huffington Post, Business Insider, AllThingsDigital, The Atlantic Wire and CBS News.

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Not True
kro1 20th Sep 2009
You said: "Its a great idea to be able to choose how you want to run your IE." And I say, try downloading an update for your video driver with IE8.
View in thread
0 Votes
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Let me see if I understand the following correctly:
ye Updated - 19th Mar 2009
For those who want to avoid the impending web browsing experience massacre, you can always switch to another browser.

In order to avoid the "massacre" of IE 8's standards compliance your recommendation is to switch to another standards compliant browser?
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Ironic, isn't it? But there is no other viable option.
InAction Man 19th Mar 2009
Only IE could produce such a mess.
0 Votes
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The advice is correct
jwillum Updated - 19th Mar 2009
In order to avoid the "massacre" of IE 8's standards compliance your recommendation is to switch to another standards compliant browser?

Yes, that would be the correct thing to do. When your browser reports that it is Firefox, Safari or whatever, the site should send you standard HTML. When you connect with IE8, it will send you the IE specific code which IE8 no longer supports.
0 Votes
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So wouldn't it be easier...
storm14k 19th Mar 2009
..for the developer to simply send the compliant code when the browser reports IE8? I mean they are doing a browser check already. Its not that difficult to add a case.
0 Votes
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Did you read the article or just start talking against the title...?
IMHOYAAAH 19th Mar 2009
"Microsoft are telling developers to add code to websites which tells IE8 to assume the site isn?t up to the web standards and to view in compatibility mode. However, there are only around 2,400 websites at the time of going to press which were configured this way. Many major corporate and visited websites, including a number of Microsoft ones, ironically, are still broken in IE8 as a result."

Sure they could do it. The point of the article is they HAVEN'T!

0 Votes
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They HAVEN'T and they WON'T!
InAction Man 19th Mar 2009
M$ took no one's advice while creating this mess. They created it in order to make life difficult to everyone else.

Now that they find themselves in deep shite because of it they want others to undo the mess they created. Sorry, no one will do it. M$ will have to live in the mess they created.

It's only fair!
0 Votes
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Wow, I'm impressed with that logic...
PollyProteus 19th Mar 2009
The majority of the non IE users claim they don't want to use IE for a variety of reasons, the smallest not being that IE isn't "standards compliant", and web developers have long been decrying IE because it's not "standards compliant" and so when Microsoft creates a version of IE that *is* standards compliant (or at least so it seems), non IE users and web developers (and you apparently) are now complaining because they now have to go remove all the special handling for IE 8 (which basically amounts to a single line change in the web code)?

In case you're only 12 or 13 (which I highly suspect to be true), both IE and Netscape were adding "proprietary" extensions on how they supported web pages because there *WASN'T* a true standard back then. And some of those those "proprietery" extensions have actually been adopted as part of the standard now, but I expect that flies in the face of your "true history" of web browsing and browsers in general.

Anyway, I expect that you're sitting there with blinders on and your fingers in your ears going "lalalalalalalalala" quite loudly so that no real logic can make it into your anti-Microsoft brain.
0 Votes
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Get real.
Jwp72 20th Mar 2009
There are many reasons I like IE8 and many reasons I don't....trust me when all of the bugs are worked out you naysayers will find somthing els to complain about...30years ago all this was a pipe dream. Be glad you live in a time that is so tech savy and not in the stone age. Quit bithin' bout the browser..if you don't like it dont use it. BUt...if you still feel as though you want to complain at least get your facts straight.
0 Votes
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@#$%$%&^?
kro1 20th Sep 2009
Why the personal attacks and the nastiness? Is this the Microsoft lover?s form of communicating?
0 Votes
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Thats not what I said and it makes no sense.
storm14k 20th Mar 2009
If you're site looks fine in the standards compatible browsers that means you have standards compatible code. If IE 8 is standards compatible then the same code that works for the other browsers will work for IE8.

This article is talking about the code written for IE6/7. My question is why do you have to rewrite anything or signal IE8 to use compatibility mode. Don't send the IE6/7 code to IE8. Include IE8 as one of the browsers that receives standard code. Simple as that. Hell almost by default the only non-default cases are IE6/7 if you're smart. IE8 should work right out of the box. It just goes to show some folk have no business developing.
0 Votes
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That's what we do!
pico_D 20th Mar 2009
We send out standard code to all browsers, apart from IE 6 and IE 7, which require, themselves, different levels of buggering up of the CSS code...

IE8 is a huge step in the right direction... It just needs lazy web developers to change the [if IE] tags to [if lte IE 7]...
0 Votes
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This is what I have yet to understand...
storm14k Updated - 19th Mar 2009
If IE 8 is standards compliant then all you have to do is check for IE8 and serve the same code you're serving for the other compliant browsers. Its obvious that some browser checking is already being done. Just add an additional case for IE8...problem solved.

I simply cannot understand what people are complaining about unless they never did design compliant code and simply designed for IE to begin with. These are the only people that would have to worry about serious recoding.
0 Votes
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OR . . .
JLHenry Updated - 19th Mar 2009
Don't check for which browser you're using and just send standards compliant code . . . Unless you know of another browser that uses proprietary code . . .

'Course that means that they'd have to move everyone from IE6/7 VERY quickly. And there are still companies that are programming for IE6 only (my employer's in-house website is one of them, unfortunately).
0 Votes
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users are complaning not developers
wifiwolf 20th Mar 2009
Users are complaining that the pages are broken, a developer should be happy for two things:
Microsoft is finally going the right direction
If they were in the midt of losing a job, now they have something to do.

I'm a developer and think only wsers complain because they are so used to seeing their usual site as it were. Those are the same that looked at firefox and al and thought something was wrong and prefered the wrong one.
0 Votes
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New IE8 Release Allows One to See ALL Websites in Compatibilty View
mustang_z 19th Mar 2009
Select TOOLS/Compatibility View Setting.

There is a 3rd check box that one can check to allow all websites to use compatibility view.
0 Votes
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Porn Mode
cynthia_sparks2002@... 19th Mar 2009
What is the "Porn Mode" in Internet Exployer 8?
0 Votes
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PORN mode
joesodium 20th Mar 2009
YEAH ....iWANT SOME OF THAT WHAT EVER IT IS.....LOL
0 Votes
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with IE8 you say good-by to having control
kro1 20th Sep 2009
IE8, a menace to freedom of choice!
If the average users? desire is to receive on a silver platter without any thoughts or efforts put into actually doing something by themselves, then IE8 is well deserved. Microsoft?s new browser has a predatory attitude. It decides what you can and cannot download. And as for the comment: ?you can always use another browser,? I must say that you would be dumfounded when you see some of them are not having a download switch somewhere on their webpage! If you don?t believe me, try going to nvidia.com on both IE and Firefox, and then attempting to download a driver for your hardware. Predatory behaviour of IE8 came through right after I installed it, and it shutoff the Wi-Fi. If you have IE7, I?d suggest you stay with it and next disable the automatic updating from your machine.
0 Votes
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hilarious!
ridingthewind 19th Mar 2009
So let me extrapolate... If you have a web site that was setup so that it ONLY supports internet exploder, and someone tries to access it with IE8, it is/might-be broken?

(Yes, there actually is a site that checks your browser and if it's not internet exploder, you can't see it...)

So in this case, you get firefox and then add the plugin that makes you look like it's internet exploder and then go there?

hahahaha!
0 Votes
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Exactly, that is the right thing to do, but to me that's no fun
InAction Man 19th Mar 2009
and I can't understand why you find it hilarious.
0 Votes
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Knit picky!
NoAx2Grind 19th Mar 2009
What do we have to do to make you people happy!?



http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
0 Votes
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Compatibility mode is right on the address bar
diane wilson 19th Mar 2009
Really. At the right end of the address bar, there's a button to switch in or out of compatibility mode. You don't need to go looking for it; it's right in front of you. One click.
0 Votes
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What?
cbjfff@... 19th Mar 2009
I have been using IE8 for at least six months with no noticable problems other than the usual microsoft occasional freezes. So what gives about this compatibility issue?
0 Votes
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Autotask, for example
Gritztastic Updated - 19th Mar 2009
We use Autotask for all of our ticketing/billing/time recording etc,
and even in comp. mode, it is missing approx 1/3 -1/2 of the
buttons.

Runs like a champ in IE6/7 though.

This could be a major issue for companies that use high-functioning
web based software that relies on all the quirks and 'non-standards-
complaint' code in IE6/7.

I'm not trying to attack or defend anyone here, and it probably won't
be a major issue for 90% of the websites out there, but for Enterprise-
only products that rely on legacy IE6/7 standards it could be a major
clusterduck.

EDIT: On the whole, I think that making IE8 standards complaint is
AWESOME in the long run, but there could be significant growing
pains in the interim.
0 Votes
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Yes, it is, but...
mustang_z 21st Mar 2009
You can set compatibility mode to always be on for all websites by going to TOOLS/Compatibility View Settings and putting a check in the bottom check box.

Why would one do this? To avoid IE8 locking up on some pages! When it locks up you can click the compatibility button at the end of the address bar all you want - nothing will happen. IE8 will have to restart after forcing it to shut down by holding the CTRL+ALT+DELETE keys down to get to TASK Manager to force it to close. That's more work than just checking a box to tell IE8 to use compatibility view on all pages all the time.
0 Votes
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RE: IE8 released at Mix; will it cripple the web-user experience?
Loverock Davidson 19th Mar 2009
No web crippling with IE8. You just adapt your site to html now that IE8 has better standards support. Its that simple. Then the compatibility is there if you need it. Its a great idea to be able to choose how you want to run your IE.
0 Votes
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Who are you and what have you done with Loverock?
IT_User 19th Mar 2009
That was actually a reasonable post.
0 Votes
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Shouldn't have been a problem in the first place. [nt]
olePigeon 19th Mar 2009
[nt]
0 Votes
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IE8 is in deep shite
InAction Man Updated - 19th Mar 2009
and now M$ wants others to clean up the mess they created with their effort to boycott web standards and make life as difficult as possible to others.

Now they are unable to clean it themselves and find the prospect of having to live in it too unpleasant. Sorry about that, but that's just the way it is.

And it's only fair!
0 Votes
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Interesting...
PollyProteus 19th Mar 2009
that was basically a copy and paste of what you put above...

Nothing new to say? (not that you ever do...)
0 Votes
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You have a very short memory then!!
MyBlueRex 19th Mar 2009
No it shouldn't have been a problem in the
first place... but WAY BACK then, there were
next to none of the webs standard today,
existed.

Sooo... Netscape, Microsoft, etc had to come up
with ways to do things. Move forward 10+ years
and we've got this problem.

Some sites are directly coded for IE5/6... so
IE8 provides a simple little button at the end
of the address bar to click on to support those
sites that haven't been correctly coded.

It really is as simple as that.
0 Votes
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What a marvelous solution. Redmond is filled with geniuses.
InAction Man 19th Mar 2009
Another great innovation from M$. Who would have thought of that.
0 Votes
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The marvelous shill...
Metronome49 19th Mar 2009
Yeah, when IE doesn't support standards... use broken code, when IE does support standards, change all your code to be standard compliant... and the world continues to revolve around Microsoft... good idea.{sarcasm}

If it wasn't for MS everyone would be using standard code anyway.

What I don't understand... I've always sent my conditional comments to fix IE directly to IE6 or IE7 separately. So, anything I've ever done for that browser will be just fine.

I don't know what technique people were using to get IE to show different styles, but it seems pretty inefficient



0 Votes
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sigh...
MyBlueRex 19th Mar 2009
If it wasn't for MS everyone would be using
standard code anyway

EXCEPT THERE WERE NEXT TO NO WEB STANDARDS BACK
THEN!!!

FFS!
0 Votes
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Not True
kro1 20th Sep 2009
You said: "Its a great idea to be able to choose how you want to run your IE." And I say, try downloading an update for your video driver with IE8.
0 Votes
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RE: IE8 released at Mix; will it cripple the web-user experience?
Gthang 19th Mar 2009
Ok guys, just move on over to the Flock 3.0 experience, it's time to experience real user friendly and convenient web surfing.

We are all tired of of these big corporate nationals dictating what the 'STANDARD', are. It's time to turn your keyboards into swords and move into the world of free.

It's kinda scary at first but don't worry you won't be disappointed.

Use it or loose it, it's your choice.

G-Factor
0 Votes
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So IE 8 is finally right but web sites are not
jscott418 19th Mar 2009
Funny that after Microsoft finally conforms that their history will come back to haunt them.
I have tried IE8 and even though it is faster and better. I will wait a while until the compatibility problems with sites work themselves out. I am glade to see Microsoft working towards the standards.
0 Votes
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Useless
MyBlueRex 19th Mar 2009
Click the compatible page button to the right
of the address bar and all your problems with
those incorrectly coded sites are resolved.

How hard can that be????
0 Votes
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Crippling? Really?
Speednet 19th Mar 2009
Another blog title designed to stir the pot. This is getting tedious.

I've been using IE8 for months, and tracking its progress from the first beta, it's been consistently more compatible than Firefox betas have been at the same stage in their development.

In fact, I would call IE8 more of an anti-crippling browser, due to its ability to mimic IE7 at the simple click of a button.
0 Votes
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Automatic Compatibility View Check Box In This Latest Release
mustang_z 19th Mar 2009
Select TOOLS/Compatibility View Setting.

There is a 3rd check box that one can check to allow all websites to use compatibility view.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: IE8 released at Mix; will it cripple the web-user experience?
vaughanm 19th Mar 2009
I tested IE8 on the website I visit the most and it could not handle it, very slow to load the site and even then it did not fully load the page, sticking to firefox
0 Votes
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This is really hilarious!
MSFTWorshipper 19th Mar 2009
Finally MSFT is becoming standards-compliant and this is a bad thing? Only pure haters could come up with such a double standard.
0 Votes
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Latest IE8 Has Display ALL Websites in Compatility View Check Box
mustang_z 19th Mar 2009
Select TOOLS/Compatibility View Settings. You will find the Display All Websites in Compatibility View as a 3rd box, not mentioned in this latest article.
0 Votes
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Boycot IE8 / Microsoft
Jadet 19th Mar 2009
Boycot IE8, just don't waste your time on it. By breaking the web Microsoft just made it very clear they don't belong in the browser market.

<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=EmulateIE7" />
0 Votes
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short memories
MyBlueRex 19th Mar 2009
You obviously don't know what happened 10+
years ago!?! there WERE NEXT TO NO WEB
STANDARDS around for Microsoft to follow... so
Microsoft didn't "break the web"... they just
worked with what was available at the time,
which was basically nothing.

Netscape did exactly the same things as well!!!
but obviously they didn't hang around enough
for other reasons.
0 Votes
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RE: IE8 released at Mix; will it cripple the web-user experience?
Merlin_Magii 19th Mar 2009
- and YOUR sarcasm was helpful, was it? I've noticed for some time you seem to join these threads just to be abnoxious - is there something you're trying to say ?
0 Votes
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What Cry Babies!
jpr75_z 19th Mar 2009
MS and IE have been berated for years due to their lack of web standards support. Now that IE 8 has much better web standards support, the same people are still crying. IE8 has been around for what, a year? Developers have had ample time to download the BETAs and test their web sites. Stop the boo-hooing and deal with it. And yes, if you don't like it, use another browser. So what.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: IE8 released at Mix; will it cripple the web-user experience?
joesodium 20th Mar 2009
It easy just use the browser that u like..... y complain aboutIE.....I havent used it for years.

Firefox rocks.

0 Votes
+ -
RE: IE8 released at Mix; will it cripple the web-user experience?
bouvierjr 20th Mar 2009
As a user, I'm delighted that MSFT finally releases a standards compliant browser. This should speed up page loading across the board, as developpers won't have to use special hacks to adapt to IE's non-compliancy. I've now used IE8 (beta) for several weeks, and I'm delighted by the experience, to the point that I have moved Mozilla Firefox to my secondary browser and adopted IE8 as my primary one. IE8 is by far the best browser MSFT ever released.
0 Votes
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I can't even say "I'm sorry!"
kd5auq 20th Mar 2009
I have ALWAYS

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ie8 fix