A quick request to 20% of you…
I don’t normally use posts to advertise but as this could be mutually beneficial for some of us I thought I’d make an exception!
As you know I had the site redesigned last month, which is always tricky as people use different versions of different browsers. And the 20% of you who are using Internet Explorer 6 won’t be seeing F1 Fanatic the way you’re supposed to.
However you can try out a browser that displays the site properly for free – and I’ll earn a little money in commission if you do. How’s that for win-win?
IE6 drives web designers crazy because (for reasons that are too boring to cover in detail) it doesn’t lay pages out properly. So if you use IE6 the buttons at the top of the screen will look like this:
Instead of this:
And headlines that should fit like this:
Look like this:
We can’t have that can we? You could just upgrade to IE7 but I don’t find it much better – I prefer Firefox myself and if you download it via the button below I earn roughly one US dollar.
Even if you’re using another non-Firefox browser I encourage you to give it a try – not just because I make money out of it, but because it’s a good piece of software. I first tried it four or five years ago and I’ve not found anything better since.
And if everyone who viewed this site in March downloads on it, then I won’t have to worry about my server fees for the rest of the year!
If you’re really interested in this there’s even a campaign.
Thanks for reading. Normal service will resume shortly…
MacademiaNut said on 1st April 2008, 18:37
So, everyone must work extra for Microsoft not being able to write a proper browser? I see it from Safari and the new site looks just fabulous. Also, notice that Keith is not talking about the site rendering really crazy.. these are just minor points. If you are browsing only from IE6, you would think the site is supposed to be like this. To Rabi:"Patching the CSS is easy you either write a set of work-around hacks in CSS or write two CSS one for IE one for all other browsers and get javascript to select based on browser detection."I would suggest that if you are reading this blog so regularly and if you think this could be done easily, then why not donate say 15 minutes of your time in writing the code required to pick IE6 vs. other browsers and give it to Keith? :)
Azzy said on 1st April 2008, 18:42
I’d love to help out . but I can’t see a CLEAR linkage to make sure you get the $, must be IE6 hiding it….
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 1st April 2008, 18:47
All you have to do is click the banner to download it mate, you don’t have to click anything else!
Rabi said on 1st April 2008, 22:21
Fine then I will, Keith can e-mail me if he’d like to be IE compatible i ain’t got no problem doing it.
And Jake it is a fact not an opinion that FF is better than IE in security, so much so that it’s not even close. IE have made a useless browser and their engineer’s know this, the only reason it dominates the market is because it is shipped along with their operating system and is the default browser. Many people, as you and I both know very well, are complete novices and don’t move away from the "popular" products but do remember if it is popular it doesn’t mean it’s any good.
Manatcna said on 1st April 2008, 22:28
I’ve been using Firefox for months now after my daughter pointed me in that direction. When I got my new pc I tried IE7 but almost immediately went back to Firefox.
I had to get it (the pc) built, as all the off-the-peg computers had vista, and I still prefer XP
Jake Archibald said on 1st April 2008, 23:08
Rabi: Now, I’m a Firefox user, I’m not saying I think IE is better than Firefox, but if you can’t say something is a fact when it isn’t.
Firefox also suffers from security issues, as do all browsers. For instance, they only just fixed a referrer spoofing issue that was known about for 6 months. But yes, Firefox has more to offer in terms of security than IE6.
Firefox is quicker than IE? At what? Firefox has major speed problems at the moment that they’re addressing. I’ve been speed testing DOM manipulation recently and in many cases IE6 is faster than Firefox 2. When it comes to animation in JavaScript Firefox 2 is much slower than IE6. Do some research :)
Who on earth are you quoting when you say Microsoft engineers knew IE6 was useless when they made it? IE6 was decent in its day (remember it was released in 2001), IE7 was a reasonable step forward and IE8 looks set to be a good browser.
To be honest, I’d rather the site didn’t work in IE6 than have your javascript-switching hacky CSS all over it. No offence, but the web could do with less of that sort of thing, not more.
Jake.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 1st April 2008, 23:10
Can we draw a line under this row now please I’m sure there are one or two tech websites out there where this discussion is being had – this is an F1 site after all!
ade said on 2nd April 2008, 10:47
I usually browse F1Fanatic at work, which means I can only use IE7. If I could use Firefox, believe me I would, but installation of non-approved software on corporate equipment is strictly verboten (fires up iTunes).
Dan M said on 2nd April 2008, 14:14
Im surprised only 20% use IE, I think they still own like 65% of the overall market (becuase it is bundled with Windows, atleast in the US…. You Europeans actually know what "anti-trust suit" means).
The only reason I am using IE right now is becuase I am at work. I will try the link for Mozilla (use it everywhere else) just to earn you a dollar…. Next time you see my lemonade stand on the side of the road I expect you to stop!
Dan M said on 2nd April 2008, 14:17
For the record, Firefox is updated regularly with security and preformance updates. Microsoft likes to use the policy of waiting three years and fixing everything at once ( which means you were vunerable for longer). How long did it take to get SP1 out for Vista?
Jojo said on 3rd April 2008, 11:10
I’m using IE7 now. I think it is OK, at least much better than IE6~