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Monthly Web Dev Poll
What browser engine do you prefer?
- Webkit (Safari/Google Chrome/Maxthon) (86%, 6 Votes)
- Gecko (Mozilla Firefox) (14%, 1 Votes)
- Trident (Internet Explorer) (0%, 0 Votes)
- Presto (Opera) (0%, 0 Votes)
- Other (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 7
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7 Ways Internet Explorer Could Be A Better Browser
January 1st, 2010 
Posted by 
Tags: 
Internet Explorer was one of the most widely used browsers in the world.. once. There are lots, and lots and lots of blogs/websites all posting content about how bad IE is. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not it's biggest fan but it could be a much better browser if Microsoft wanted to improve it. According to Browser Usage Statistics From November 2009 Internet Explorer (IE6/7/8) has a market share of 37.6%, which does make it more used than Opera, Safari and Chrome combined - though that does not mean it is the best! I hardly find myself using Internet Explorer anymore unless it's for testing, or I'm on a computer with no other option - I mostly use Firefox, and recently have been using Safari.
Here's a quick run through of the 7 Different Ways IE Could be better, and then I'll go into a little more detail below:
- Make IE Cross-Platform
- Improve Security
- Improve Support for Web Standards (CSS3/HTML5)
- Better Support and Tools for Web Designers/Developers
- Redesigned Cleaner UI
- Make IE Open Source
- Force Older Versions to Upgrade
1. Make Internet Explorer Cross-Platform
If Internet Explorer were to be Cross-Platform, it would allow for a greater window of users to use the software. At the moment it's Windows only software, and to use it on OSX or Linux systems you'd have to setup a virtual or emulated system. By creating the browser cross-platform this would mean it could appeal to users that are comfortable with IE to go from Windows to OSX or Linux or vice versa.
2. Improve Security
Internet Explorer has been an insecure system for a while, with ActiveX and what not causing all sorts of issues. In my experiences, due to exploits in Internet Explorer (Especially IE6) viruses/adware/malware and all that nasty stuff is more prone to getting onto your system. There are even snippets of code that can be put on websites that will crash IE6, now that is hardly a secure browser for anyone to be using for general browsing or even things like internet banking.
3. Improve Support for Web Standards
I honestly don't know how many articles have been written across the web about Internet Explorer's lack of support for the latest web standards. IE9 says it will support CSS3 but not fully (Read James' Article), IE9 might include support for Basic HTML5 but that is hardly good enough for an ever changing web where these technologies are already implemented in websites such as Google Wave. It's been one of my longest standing gripes against Microsoft, their lack of support for the latest standards and technologies. In comparison, Firefox has had SVG support for years yet we're still waiting for it in Internet Explorer. IE6 specifically is 9 years old, and still today IE7 and IE8 haven't changed all that much in their way of supporting the latest web technologies.
Microsoft used to be leading the way in terms of supporting the latest standards, but it seems they've changed their focus to providing new features. Microsoft now are just trying to catch up to the competition in terms of IE, if they were to keep up to date with the latest technologies it would mean that then they could go ahead and lead the way with new technologies for the web and browsers.
4. Better Support and Tools for Web Designers/Developers
Internet Explorer needs to include better tools for web developers and designers, because after all there would be no market for these browsers if it weren't for the people making websites. Take Firefox and Firebug or Safari and Web Inspector for example - they are great tools for developing and designing a site as they allow you to get raw with the code. Firebug would be one of my all time favorite Firefox addons because i use it so much, yet in Internet Explorer there isn't any such thing available. If more tools were available, the browser might just then start to appeal to the large market of designers and developers that can't stand it! Mind you, IE7/8 did include some tools for web developers/designers, but more of a focus should be on them as they seem rather limited.
5. Redesigned Cleaner UI
The user interface of IE needs a complete makeover, and some serious thinking done about it. When you think about it, the general UI layout hasn't changed all that much when you compare IE6 to IE8 apart from tabs and some new icons. IE6's interface even felt cleaner than newer versions, the interface now just feels cluttered and like the elements have been stuck there because they can with no real planning done. One thing that can be done is the removal of all this extra fancy junk Microsoft puts in by default like Accelerators and Slices, because from all the people that i know use IE there is only a small minority of them that actually understand and know what they are and use them. It's probably best if they go back to basics, and have all the extra stuff available through a plugin system so it is available if it is wanted. Basically, the interface and program feels bloated - it's much more than anyone really needs.
6. Join The Open Source Revolution
Just think how much better IE would be if it were to be Open Source, think how much it could be improved and the various different versions that there could be. Like Firefox and Flock, Flock is based upon Firefox but it is built around Social Networking. Having IE open source would mean that bug fixes could be pushed out faster, easier and Microsoft would have a world of developers that can assist in bug fixing, feature development and what not. It could mean that Microsoft could focus more on the essentials in the browser, and focus their efforts on getting the Trident rendering engine up to speed.
7. Force Upgrades
If Microsoft were to Force Major Upgrades on users, it might not be ethical when you think about it at first, but it would mean that there would be able to be more users on the one platform which would make developers a lot happier! Instead of doing fixes for IE6, IE7, IE8 and so on, it could just be one fix for any issues that arise in IE9
Why do people still use Internet Explorer though?
- Because they have to, around 30% of Internet Explorer Users have to because it it installed at work. Many Corporations do not allow users to install any software onto their systems. and many companies are reluctant to upgrade due to the work involved as i have read.
- Because they don't care.
- Because they don't know any better.
- Because there are the strange, strange people out there that actually love Internet Explorer believe it or not!
In Conclusion
Internet Explorer is an alright browser (Watch me get shot down for saying that 
), but Microsoft need to make some radical changes before people start to realise there is better. If they can make the 7 Suggestions in this post a reality, IE will be one of the top browsers. Microsoft needs to put a little more focus back into Internet Explorer, and take it back to basics again. With Internet Explorer 9 coming sometime this year, and IE10 hopefully soon after, I'm expecting a lot in terms of make IE play nice with some of the new great technologies on the web such as CSS3, HTML5 and what ever else is to come in the new decade, in what am going to dub the decade of changes where we will see major changes in the way we use the internet and what's out available on the internet.
Resources
- Switching from IE to Firefox
- RIPIE6
- IE6 Must Die for the Web to Move on
- BrowserUpgrade.info
- Internet Explorer 9 to Support CSS3
- Are We Seeing the End of IE6 Support?
- The Love Hate Relationship Between Browsers and Coders
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Too Cool for Internet Explorer
Andrew is a freelance developer, blogger, tweeter and guitarist from Sydney, Australia. Blogging is becoming a great hobby of his, He loves to share his skill with others in the same niche and to teach someone something is a great feeling. Andrew's an avid shutterbug, He's always got hiscamera closeby in case a photo calls, You can even find him on Flickr.
First, let me go on record as saying I'm certainly not an IE evangelist. As a hardened Firefox fanatic and long-time web developer, I'm more than well-aware of its shortcomings. But as I've written my own posts from time to time on IE and have attended a number of Microsoft sessions where standards and IE's roadmap have been discussed, I feel the web development community need to understand Microsoft's point of view.
It's no secret - even to Microsoft - that IE6 is a horror browser. Their big names are admitting it themselves. But Microsoft don't want to release another browser that supports CSS or HTML specifications that haven't been finalised and approved for fear of endorsing something that either isn't the best approach, or worse - having the standard shift direction on them and finding themselves implementing a standard incorrectly. So they wait for something to be set in stone before supporting it in IE.
This still isn't the best approach because it means by the time a standard is put in place, most browsers are already using it and IE seems (and probably is) weak and inferior by comparison.
IE's real problem is that it has such a slow release life cycle. A faster turnaround in browser versions would bring more agility and responsiveness to widely-used standards.
Open-sourcing the code would be a nice idea in theory, but the browser is so tangled up in the actual Windows kernel that it could never happen in practice without sacrificing security.
I agree and like most of your points in this post and hopefully as IE6 and 7 move into obscurity (Windows recommends and offers to upgrade them to IE8 as part of its regular Service Patches) we'll start to see some better performance and support from the newer versions.
Thanks for the comment Phill! I do understand why Microsoft is holding back, but they're only really limiting themselves (Which i'm sure they understand) as far as i see it anyway.
Using an -ie- prefix to new CSS selectors like Mozilla have -moz-, Webkit have -webkit and Opera have -o- is the obvious solution. Not only does this allow the use of future tech but it allows MS and developers to thoroughly test this new tech before it becomes official.
Slow release life cycle is certainly a large part of the issue but to me they appear to be something of a common problem at MS, just look at Windows OS release cycles compared to the much quicker OS X releases from Apple.