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I decided to post here instead of the web forum to get more opinions.
My boss has asked me to come up with a 'browser support strategy' that covers both internal projects and external projects.
The reason for this is mostly: in a just released a public web site we are getting feedback like "this doesn't look right on my Kindle Fire" there is too much white space at the top (or whatever).
The problem is that we could chew up the rest of our careers responding to this if we aren't careful - currently the person in charge says 'we should support all mobile devices out there' and we have spent hours on stuff that (in my opinion) we shouldn't have.
We are getting some loaner devices so we can at least see for ourselves what the problem is (rather than rely on an email description of what's wrong - that's an improvement.
We have to support IE7 because of the number of users on it within our organization - I'd love to ditch it but people are only moving off about 0.5% per month and it has a 30% share of current page hits.
All help is appreciated. I searched and haven't find anything relevant except a graded browser support idea that I found at yuilibrary.com.
My current thought is to have categories like:
A = we will fix it if something looks wrong, QA will test these browsers
B = it only has to look roughly the same as tier A, we will only fix it if something is missing or doesn't work, QA does NOT test these browsers
C = These are considered rare browser platforms and users should not expect them to work. If money is provided to support a specific broser in the category we can do it, but it will not be supported ongoing (if it works now and breaks in a month we will not fix the break).
F = These are antiquated browsers which are not supported for any reason
Do any of you have a browser list that you target support for?
Any recommendations? (Aside from drop IE7 - we're working on that battle)
Comments on how to word my ABCF scale and what should be in it are welcome also.
Thanks,
-Chris C.
EDIT: Example of Tier "F" would be IE6, IE5.5, etc.)
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IMHO, I would suggest instead of claiming by 'browser names', we can debate by 'browser families'. I mean, instead of talking as 'IE', 'Firefox' and 'Chrome', how about having a compatibility based on the underlying engines like 'Trident', 'Gecko' and 'WebKit'. That way, as an immediate advantage if WebKit-compatible, then most of the mobile browsers, Chrome and Safari (on desktop) fall in line.
IE had been a GECKO descendant till IE 5.5 and it is unfortunate that they took a proprietary and bug-ridden route of Trident.
Vasudevan Deepak Kumar
Personal Homepage
Tech Gossips
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep!
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Reasonable strategy. 
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair.
nils illegitimus carborundum
me, me, me
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None of them, just give them raw HTML and CSS and let them see the website in their minds instead!
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I would think you'd take a look at the browser popularity statistics and decide what % of the potential users you want to support based on that. For example, Safari 4 only has a .1% market share, and is probably not worth additional effort, but Safari 5 is around 4% and may be worth some effort.
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Rewrite your website to take advantage of features that are easy to support across multiple browsers.
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Do feature detection rather than browser detection. Then gracefully downgrade the respective page if the desired feature is not detected.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.-Wernher von Braun
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
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Sorry, but that doesn't work. Browser support isn't limited to Javascript - it includes the gamut of CSS quirks that drive sane men mad.
cheers,
Chris Maunder
The Code Project | Co-founder
Microsoft C++ MVP
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eh?
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.-Wernher von Braun
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
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You said "Do feature detection rather than browser detection" and I was assuming you meant javascript based feature detection. This means you're only handling script issues, not layout issues, and the majority of issues with browser support for the most painful (read: older IE) browsers is layout.
Of course, maybe I'm reading too much into the question and simply having 'nam flashbacks of my own adventures in browser support. I find the javascript support the easy stuff. Layout and styling? That's a killer.
cheers,
Chris Maunder
The Code Project | Co-founder
Microsoft C++ MVP
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What would you want for mailing these words to my boss?  We (the R&D staff) has managed to hold him off HTML (vs native mobile UIs), for some time now, but he keeps picking up the subject during meetings. It's getting bothersome...
--
Kein Mitleid Für Die Mehrheit
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Well, I'm no expert so perhaps I shouldn't speak. But I was primarily talking about layout & CSS feature detection. Javascript libraries such as Modernizr[^] and it's brethren allow you to write both conditional Javascript and CSS.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.-Wernher von Braun
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
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That's the point, though: detecting differences in browsers is easy. Making the different browsers work properly is where the work is.
cheers,
Chris Maunder
The Code Project | Co-founder
Microsoft C++ MVP
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True
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.-Wernher von Braun
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
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Sorry I wasn't able to post this earlier - I lost connectivity then had to go out of town (where there's no internet except a borrowed computer I can read email on)
We aren't even at feature detection, because we aren't doing some of the cool stuff yet (in public apps).
All of this frustration is over 'almost pixel perfect' HTML5 CSS3 sites
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Standardize on IE 6.
Don't be afraid to lead - others will follow.
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Dear God no. That means standardising on an incredibly awful implementation set. IE6 is at least a whole generation old and should be treated as a special case, not a direct target.
cheers,
Chris Maunder
The Code Project | Co-founder
Microsoft C++ MVP
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^ I think I've identified our resident IE6 hater.
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What? Just because when I say "IE6 should be treated as a special case" and I mean "IE6 should be taken out back and bludgeoned" doesn't mean I have anything against IE6.
Much.
cheers,
Chris Maunder
The Code Project | Co-founder
Microsoft C++ MVP
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The only thing that should be supporting IE6 is TNT. With a lit fuse.
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KABOOM!!!!!
I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image.
Stephen Hawking
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I suspect you were kidding (and P.S. it did make me grin)
IE6 isn't a problem as it is no longer patched by msft.
Encouraging users to stay on IE6 would not be a public service.
The current 'boat anchor around our neck' is IE7 as it needs its own full section of CSS support and I'm told is difficult to match up to modern browsers (with modern defined as IE9+, FF, Chrome)
FWIW
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I like Microsoft.
However, even though I'm a huge fanboy I have to admit they've been a total screw up when it comes to browsers. I cannot understand why they've a history of dragging their feet when it comes to one of the most influential pieces of software on the market these days (the browser).
Despite the fact I detest Google, even I can appreciate the fact they made a plug in for IE that makes IE work better. I cannot imagine a better definition for "owned" then that right there. Also, printing from Chrome is a revelation - it's such a nice interface for printing. Print preview in a browser and so on - it's very well done.
So Microsoft - just offer Google a couple of billion for Chrome, slap your logo on it and be done. Either get serious about IE or cancel it already. Sheesh.
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Agree with most of that.
I've actually had more trouble printing in Chrome than IE8 or FF.
The interface is great - but the results are iffy. Maybe it is because I'm still on XP or something my desktop people have done.
I tried to print pages 3-5 of an article Thursday and ended up with 7 pages and only a few words on each page.
I'll be on Win7 in a few months and will revisit.
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You should also prioritize in which order you fix problems.
- Broken functionality should be highest priority and include all categories, maybe except F.
- Having all elements looking roughly right and being in the right positions should be next priority and include categories A and B.
- Pixelpushing is time demanding and only important to the marketing department and should therefore have the lowest priority and be limited to category A.
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