How long will be before we can give up on supporting Netscape 4.7? Mac IE 4.5? I work for a very large corporation, with amazingly stubborn users who refuse to upgrade, or change their resolution. So, we’re stuck in the stone age supporting ancient browsers with bloated pages and spacer gifs. You’d think they could drive the upgrade cycle with new clients.
I think there should be a cutoff date. The web builders (cuz I’m no designer) of the world should band together and say, “As of INSERTDATEHERE, we will no longer support obsolete browsers. If you have not upgraded by SAIDDATE, your web experience will suck.” There have already been small strides with the Web Browser Upgrade program, but it hasn’t been embraced by large corporations. Why? Money, mostly. Also, it’s partly ignorance. The suits don’t care what people use as long as they see the ads and buy stuff. Little do they realize, that by supporting these ancient browsers, they’re hindering their ability to make money. With new technology comes new opportunities. There will come a day when we can no longer retrofit the new stuff for the old hole. As resilient as Netscape 4.76 has been, it’s time to give it up.
So, my fellow members of the web proletariat, let’s band together and then go get something to eat. I’m starving. Ranting makes me hungry.