Punchbowl Blog

This post written by Sean Conta, Founder & CXO

I do most of the testing for MyPunchbowl and it’s an increasingly complicated task. We’re always adding new features and fixes to the site and everything needs to be thoroughly tested. But the functions of the site itself is only one dimension of testing. We also have to test in multiple web browsers.

A lot of people online today don’t even really know what “web browser” means, much less if they’re running IE6, 7, 8, Firefox 3, or Chrome (OK if you’re running Chrome you probably know a thing or two). But if you are in tune with the web world you’re painfully aware of browser options and you also probably share a fundamental disgust for that “cranky-and-slightly-crazy-old-man-who-hasn’t-taken-his-medication” of web browsers: Internet Explorer version 6.

Is your website working and looking fine? Boot it up in IE6 and turn that smile upside down!

Hatred of IE6 among web programmers is well documented if you spend a few minutes asking the internet. Our newest programmer (Ryan) has shown a real genuine and promising level of spite for the ‘ole IE6. He turned me on to a site attempting to organize the war on IE6: http://www.bringdownie6.com/. Check out the home page for a concise summary of the problem at hand.

The other day I came across another clever innovation that further illustrates the desires of the web programmers of the world: http://ie6update.com/. Here’s a piece of code that you drop into your site that makes it appear (if you’re using IE6) that Microsoft is prompting you to upgrade your browser. Phenomenal.

And that’s the other problem with Internet Explorer version 6. Users can ignore the Microsoft updates and suddenly find themselves running an 8 year old browser in today’s modern internet. As Matt likes to say (often to users) “that’s like riding a bicycle on the highway”.

So do yourself (and us) a favor: if you’re using IE6 to read this post, head over to Microsoft and upgrade your browser. You can thank me later for picking you and your bicycle up on the side of the highway.

This entry was posted on April 22, 2009 at 9:26 pm and is filed under Customer Service, Web 2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.