The arbitrary restriction(not browsers; explicitly placed by the developers) is there to ensure people don't see a broken version. I don't know about the recent IE versions, but earlier versions needed won't center align when I say `margin: 0 auto`(have to do a text-align: center then reset it in child container), have a different boxing model, doesn't support min-height, won't support hover on all elements etc etc.
Rather than being bothered with placing conditional rules for non-compliant behavior, I would block IE if I can(i.e if a very small number of users are on IE). I don't know if the current IE behaves as expected, but even if it does, the users who aren't running upgraded IE are going to get a broken version and guess who they are going to think is an idiot(HINT: not IE).
My company's site opens up all skewed up on IE because IE won't center the container when I say `margin: 0 auto`. If it were something I was trying to sell, my first instinct would be to check the IE demographics and depending on the numbers, either show a notice regarding using latest version of IE or other standard compliant browser(my preferred scenario), or invest a lot of time to fix it(shivers).
If I were interested in buying something from your web site, I would be less likely to bounce somewhere else as a result of seeing an uncentered container than I would as a result of being told to upgrade my browser.
P.S. Browser restritions are placed by developers, speed restrictions by police, and height restrictions by amusement ride operators. It's not the browser, the speed, or the height that's doing the restricting.
> If I were interested in buying something from your web site, I would be less likely to bounce somewhere else as a result of seeing an uncentered container than I would as a result of being told to upgrade my browser.
Depending on the demographics(what do I lose if I don't support outdated IE and how likely is my customer base to be running arcane IE), the amount of effort required to make sure my site runs on arcane IE; your bouncing off somewhere else might not matter to me. I didn't say putting up a notice saying use a modern browser will ensure customers will comply - I am saying that might be a reasonable compromise.
It takes five seconds with Google to discover why centering doesn't work. Hint: you're probably missing a doctype declaration.
If you're thinking of blocking multiple versions of a browser because of your own lack of knowledge then perhaps you're in the wrong industry. We went through this ten years ago. It was a bad idea then and it's bad idea now.
> Hint: you're probably missing a doctype declaration.
> If you're thinking of blocking multiple versions of a browser because of your own lack of knowledge then perhaps you're in the wrong industry.
May be the doctype will fix it for newer version of IE, may be it won't(don't know about the newer versions; older versions need text-align:center). You are conveniently ignoring different boxing model, min-height, staircase effect, double margins etc.
> It takes five seconds with Google to discover why centering doesn't work.
I can find a work around doesn't mean anything. The point is IE does things differently causing extra effort on my part, and if I can avoid it, I will.
Box model: Fixed in IE6, 11 years ago: Internet Explorer versions 6 and onward are not affected by the bug if the page contains certain HTML document type declarations.[1]
Double margin, min-height: Fixed in IE7, 6 years ago.
Staircase bug: Fixed in IE8, three years ago.
You're complaining about issues that were fixed over a decade ago. You haven't even bothered to research the very things you're complaining about and you expect people to take you seriously. These are solved issues. If you ensure your page has the correct doctype -- which they should have regardless of whether you want to support IE or not -- then your site works on all versions of Internet Explorer after 6 (which has a ~2% market share [2]).
Rather than being bothered with placing conditional rules for non-compliant behavior, I would block IE if I can(i.e if a very small number of users are on IE). I don't know if the current IE behaves as expected, but even if it does, the users who aren't running upgraded IE are going to get a broken version and guess who they are going to think is an idiot(HINT: not IE).
My company's site opens up all skewed up on IE because IE won't center the container when I say `margin: 0 auto`. If it were something I was trying to sell, my first instinct would be to check the IE demographics and depending on the numbers, either show a notice regarding using latest version of IE or other standard compliant browser(my preferred scenario), or invest a lot of time to fix it(shivers).