Why we will not support IE8 or IE9
- Summary:
- diginomica is borked in IE8/9. We've looked at fixes but find them requiring more support than we are prepared to pay. Here's what we suggest.
We care a great deal about our readers. They're our life blood. But we also care about a wider world. A world we believe that is moving beyond arcane browser discussions.
In recent days I've received a good number of reports saying that diginomica looks terrible when using IE8/9. I understand that and thank Timo Elliott in particular for bringing this to my attention along with a possible fix.
Our position from the get go is that we are 'mobile first' and that we'd always pay for supported components rather than go 'free.'
Having said that, we also know we have a substantial readership from companies that may not yet be on the latest and greatest browser versions. If you are putting up with our stuff in less than pristine condition then thank you for your patience.
Having conducted a thorough internal and external review, I have decided that we will not change our code to support IE8/9. This will be a disappointment to many but I'd like to explain why.
diginomica was conceived in a broad standards based cloud environment. The fact that a certain browser enjoys a given market presence does not influence us when it requires that we custom code to overcome its limitations. IE has always fallen squarely into that category. It is the only browser that provides us with code issues.
Sadly to say, Microsoft has consistently introduced what I can only describe as 'crap' that forces developers to take code action. The current issue is especially difficult to resolve since it has implications for the way we manage CSS performance - a key issue in site performance.
Our code advisors suggest turning off all plugins and then re-instantiate to figure where the problems are happening. They also suggest we add some custom code to one of our core files, I am very unhappy with that because no-one else is experiencing this problem. It is a classic response which basically means: 'No-one has a clue,' where the problem is arising
Some will argue that we are missing a big part of the enterprise market. That's a fair point.
Our view is that if diginomica is to properly represent the emerging digital enterprise then why should *we* insert custom code to satisfy a constituency that's behind the curve we wish to represent?
Instead, we propose that readers use IE11. Now - some readers correctly point out that few companies have moved to that standard. Guess what - diginomica renders beautifully on IE11.
Call us maverick (sic), call us arrogant - but to be honest, I see no rational reason to support browsers that demand I write custom code and need to support going forward. It's not something our partners care about.
If anyone has a simple fix that I can carry through to future site iterations then fine. Otherwise...I am sorry. This is a stake in the ground.
The best I can suggest is that affected people consider installing Chrome or Forefox - assuming their image masters allow such outrageous behavior ;)