Internet Explorer Is Dead. Just Why Do Web Designers Hate It So Much?
If you’re old enough, you must have at least some opinion about Internet Explorer — the infamous web browser from Microsoft. The universally hated browser (both by users and web designers) survived for far longer than everyone expected, but Microsoft officially announced its retirement a few days back. But what did make it so hated — and why no one will mourn “the internet icon” of the 00s?
Web designers happy to see IE gone
You couldn’t get rid of it
Even though every specialist on the planet considered Firefox or even Opera the best browsers, Internet Explorer was an undisputed king of the web until Chrome came along. Not because it was good or convenient to use (it was one of the last ones to get tab support), but because it came preinstalled on every Windows PC. That meant it was either “a browser for downloading other browsers” or a program of choice for corporations, governments, and people who didn’t know better. And uninstalling it wasn’t really a possibility either, although many have tried.
Non-technical users had no idea
When it comes to Internet Explorer, the most hated version was IE 6. A staple of Windows XP, it was massively popular because most non-technical users had no idea there was something wrong with it. And for years, web developers had to adapt to older standards of the older IE 6 simply because XP was everywhere. That made developers hate it with a passion.
IE cared very little about standards
Firefox, and, later, Chrome, adhered to standards proposed by the W3C that helped every web page look the same on every browser. IE did not: Microsoft didn’t want to give the users more options, so the company implemented its own set of standards. That meant twice the work for web designers, who basically made two versions of a website so that it could 100% work on everything.
IE almost killed Microsoft
Microsoft wanted IE to be the only browser that mattered. They bundled their OS with it and declined Opera and Netscape (the best browser at the time). That led to a massive court case — the US justice department thought that Microsoft wanted to be a monopoly and stifle competition. In the end, Netscape gave in, but the public wasn’t happy with Microsoft’s position.
Read also: All style, no substance. The troubled relationship between UX designers and Dribbble