This is all true and good, but I'd like to make a couple of points..
1. Nobody has ever talked about making sites not work in IE in this thread,,
I wouldn't
be that stupid, you'd lose a good portion of your audience..
I was talking about informing IE users that there are good alternatives.
and good reasons to try them.
2. People have been writing cross browser pages for ages.. its not a new
thing..
nowdays, the html isnt' that much of a problem, and with getElementById
Javascript isn't
that much of a problem either, the new way of doing things, is to NOT test
for the browser
type or version, but to test for each object or method before using it..
as an example, here is some code.. from a div swap page I wrote recently.
|function hidescreen() {
| if (document.layers)
| {
| document.layers["exitlayer"].visibility='hide';
| }
| else if (document.all)
| {
| document.all["exitlayer"].style.visibility='hidden';
| }
| else if (document.getElementById)
| {
| document.getElementById("exitlayer").visibility='hidden';
| }
| }
This code works on everything I have tested it on... (IE4+, ns4+, Mozilla,
opera and some others.)
yet there is no testing for browser type, the first bit tests for
document.layer (used mostly by early Netscape)
the second one tests for the presence of document.all and uses it if it
finds it..(thats for IE4+)
The last one tests for getElementById and uses it if it exists.. that sorts
out IE6 (which can use document.all as well)
NS6+ and Mozilla, as well as anything based on recent Gecko...
No browser testing at all, all my scripts are like that now.. and it works
flawlessly. So you don't have to write the same page for each browser, or
test for every browser on the planet and code for it,, you just test for the
object, and then code for it if it exists... very simple and fantastically
simple.. will be great when getElementById is the only one left, as coding
for it is very very easy.
There is probably even easier ways to do the above, this was knocked up in
20 minutes along with the rest of the script, so its not necessarily the
best code for the job, but it works, and its very simple.
rgds
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Gary Traffanstedt
Sent: Wednesday, 31 October 2001 1:01 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [newbie] MSN.com and MS in general.
I don't think designing sites that don't work in IE is the answer. I
also don't think designing sites that are 100% cross-browser compatible is
really an answer either. Microsoft has done a lot to ensure that certain
things only work or work better with their products. To combat this, if
anyone cares to combat this, a better product or service is need in each
instance. For example, IE owns the browser market for one reason. It is
simply better. Yes it has problems. It has a lot of problems but overall, it
IS the best browser available for Windows users which happen to make up a
large share of computer users.
I primarily use Linux and on Linux I like Mozilla. I'm using .9.4
and
it works great. With each new release, it only gets better. Or at least that
is what I hear... haven't been able to get .9.5 to run yet but that's my own
fault. Back to the point.... If those who are passionate about Linux and the
Linux way of life, do something to show your support. Contribute to the
cause
in any way that you can.
If you use Mozilla, and you find a problem with it, let the
developers know of the problem. They can't test everything themselves and if
you point out it's flaws, in a constructive way, that will assist them in
making it far superior to Internet Exploiter.
It's not quite a level field that we play on, but it's getting
better. Two years ago I struggled to get any distro installed. Today I can
slap a cd in the drive and have my choice of a variety of distros running in
under 30 minutes. The installation process had greatly improved. The wealth
of applications have improved accross the board. More and more people are
turning to Linux, not just as an operating system, but as a way of life. I
use it because it's open, not because it's free.
Just think where Linux would be if only half of the dollars spent on
Windows development was spent inproving Linux and Linux apps.... it's just a
matter of time really.... Windows has been to the top of the mountain...
they
are there now... but the edge is ever closer... and the end is ever
nearer..... the penguin is coming, and the empire will crumble. Not because
of the government or any court case, but because of the will of the people.
The MS way of thinking "If you can make it good, make it look good" can only
last so long.
The truth is, MS products are more looks than substance and that
shall be their downfall.
-Gary
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