'Net Features : ie8

Why Did Web Builder Wix Drop IE8 Support?

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:30:00 GMT

In what I consider a rather bold move, HTML5 Web publishing platform Wix announced that it will no longer support Internet Explorer 8, citing a general lack of support for its emerging HTML5 product.

While IE commands approximately 20-percent share of the browser market globally (according to StatCounter), Wix analyzed its 20 million-strong userbase and found that only 12 percent were using IE8. Couple that metric with IE8's widely known inability to handle HTML5's interactive elements, and the decision was likely not a difficult one to make for Wix.

But how do Wix clients feel about the decision?

Apparently, 89 percent of Wix users support the addition of HTML5 features to the website builder over the continued support of IE8. Enough said.

"By freeing the Wix platform from the constraints IE8 places on its users, Wix will continue to lead the advancement of HTML5 Web design features that aren't supported by outdated browsers today," says Avishai Abrahami, Wix CEO and Co-founder. "The Wix user demands more variety and a consistent stream of new features which will benefit their website in the long run. Advanced HTML5 Web design and IE8 support cannot co-exist."

IE8 Browser Market Share

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:17:00 GMT

Net Applications is reporting that IE8 has quietly, yet quickly ascended to over 3% usage market share.

Microsoft has not been actively marketing the new browser yet, but the market share is notable so early in the browser lifecycle (the browser was released on 3-19-2009). It may not matter much overall, however, as IE continues its downward trend. IE captured 66.82% of browser market share in March 2009, down from 71.27% just six months ago.

So far this year, browser market share for Firefox has been 22.05%, Safari comes in at 8.20%, Chrome comes in at a disappointing 1.17%, followed by Opera (0.70%) and Netscape (0.66%).

IE8 Released: Quick Overview - Features for Web Pros

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:26:00 GMT

Microsoft released Internet Explorer 8 today with some interesting features. While IE still has a majority of the browser market share, it's unlikely that too many hardcore Firefox, Safari or Chrome (even with the extension capability) are going to be switching any time soon. Even so, IE users will appreciate the new features. Let's take a closer look as some are immensely important to Web professionals:

Accelerators let users speed up their routine tasks: map directions, translate words, email friends and more. By the looks of it (with accelerators like Blog with Windows Live Spaces) Microsoft is taking its current position in the browser market to better compete in markets where its services have been slow to take off. Check out the Web Slices feature below for how this might related to Web professionals.

InPrivate Browsing enables IE8 users to browse the Web without saving their history. This might be a popular feature for those on shared computers worried about the availability of browing history, temporary Internet files, form data, cookies, usernames, passwords etc. InPrivate filtering, a feature of the former, provides users with another level of control and choice about the information that other websites can use to track their browsing activity. The impact on behavioral advertising (or any advertising really) is going to be major if users adopt the feature.

Web Slices is perhaps the most noteworthy addition in IE8. The feature enables user to keep track of their favorite content from the new Favorite Bar in IE8. Just like Accelerators, Micorsoft has taken a "platform-based approach" to Web Slices, enabling developers to create individual slices by simply adding a few lines of code to existing pages. When users hover their mouse over an item on a webpage that is Web sliced, an icon will appear notifying users they can add the slice.

Will this change your perception of IE8? Regardless of the answer, Web professionals should pay close attention to the conversations surrounding accelerators and slices. It's incredibly important news for both Web marketers, designers and developers.

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