Internet Explorer Browser Support Ending Soon – Do You Still Need It?

4 Jun. 2015 - - Total Reads 9,694

browser share IE8

More than six years ago Microsoft brought us Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) – a web browser which has caused problems for web developers ever since! The question is do you still need to program for it? Is it worth the trouble to handle the users slowly opting out of IE8, and in general, other browsers that are seeing diminishing users?

This browser is still incompatible with browser standards that enable better user experience. Hence more users switched over to new browsers such as Firefox, Google Chrome or Apple Safari. However a portion were still stuck with the old version and now Microsoft has officially announced that it would no longer support this version from January 2016. (http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-to-drop-support-for-older-versions-of-internet-explorer/).

In fact Microsoft often joins hands with other communities to watch the old browsers and software phase out. It did so for IE6 and IE7 and now it does so for IE8. http://www.theie8countdown.com/

ie8 countdown

For now, IE8 is still one of the popular browser with current market share over 10% (http://marketshare.hitslink.com/browser-market-share.aspx), but its demise is already around the corner and it is best that we prepare in advance.

What this means for you?

Web development cost can get time consuming and expensive. Understanding your target consumers is a starting point to focus and reduce efforts. For companies, your visitor report is a good place to look for users insights, such as where and when it came from. Here is an example of how a standard browser report we provide to one of our clients looks like for the latest month.

browser screenshot

The breakdown here shows which browsers bring the most visitors to your website. Here we see that Internet Explorer or IE brings lower number of visitors to the site than Safari, Chrome or Firefox.

We can dig into further details to see the performance of different versions of Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer Screenshot

Here we see the version 8.0 or IE8 is producing lowest number of IE visitors at 7.4%. Comparing this data with the past month for visitor source provides valuable insights on user groups that are more profitable. For this particular case, IE8 users contribute less than 2% of overall users for this client’s site.

However, the development cost for making a website compatible with such old browsers like IE8 is high as there are exceptions required to many levels of the user interface to account for the lower capabilities. Also by making a website that is compatible with old browsers, you may be missing out on new improvements available in the latest browsers because budget has been skewed to account for those small and constantly diminishing number of users.

Based on budget, we are recommending to many clients that they remove IE8 from User Acceptance Testing in project developments. Instead, adding a browser message for IE8 users that their experience will be optimised on one of the more recent browser version (IE included). There are exceptions to that case, where clients offices have old licenses of Windows bundled with IE8 and we don’t expect everyone in the office to force IT to download new software for them. But the question comes up a lot, say with 2% of users out there like our example above, is it worth the extra development cost to handle IE8, especially now it will not be supported in 2016? Especially as IT can be flagged with this date as a dangerous security risk if anyone in the office is still running IE8 post 2016.

Weigh up these questions as part of your project to determine if IE8, or other browsers which are being replaced are still worth the effort to code for. Company policy here is most sites launch with a 95-98% browser compatibility and IE8 is increasingly dropping off the list of supported browsers.

Contact Andmine for more information on Browser support and other services for your business.

Michael Simonetti
Posted by:

Post Reads: 9.7K

Share this

Go on, see if you can challenge us on "Internet Explorer Browser Support Ending Soon – Do You Still Need It?" - Part of our 168 services at AndMine. We are quick to respond but if you want to go direct, test us during office hours.

Add Your Comment

Trusted by

Ubertas Group
Paypal
Windsorsmith
Van Egmond Group
Brisbane Times
Fast.co
Ebay
Loan Market
Engineers Without Borders
Herbert Smith Freehills
McArthur Skincare
Arc One
SMH – The Sydney Morning Herald
Melrose MCT
The Canberra Times
OMS – Order Management System
ABC
News
21st Century Australia Party
Bondi Sands
Ello
Melbourne Heart
BlackMores
Rydges
National Museum of Australia
Buy Aussie Now
Uber
Royal Freemasons
Appstore
GPT Group
Bintani Australia
Forbes
Metricon
Oracle
Gadens
Novvi
Fresh Cheese Company
Tek Ocean
James Buyer Advocates
Cleanfit
Boston Consulting Group
Think & Grow Rich Inc
Kay&Burton
Rock Pool Group
Grainshaker
Magento
NextTech
French Tables
Acquia Certified Site Builder Drupal
Vitura Health
Etihad Stadium
Associated Press
Dinosaur Designs
The Age
Melrose Health
SunSense Digital Agency
Victorian Government
Naturtint
Arthur Galan
Parker Lane
ADP Payroll
Fit My Car
MyAccount
Heat Holders
Bostik
Australian Physiotherapy Association
AC/DC
NGS Super
Toni&Guy
Inferflora
Shell
Cooper Mills
Carlton Football Club
131 Pizza
TPP
RMIT University
NMI Insurance
POSTER Magazine
National Relay Services
High Street Armadale
Dial Before You Dig
Federation Square
Plan It Sync It
CAN- Common Wealth Bank
White Suede
MAP
Wild Rhino Shoes
Sports Power
Unsw Australia
Plants
Cell Therapies
Passage Foods
The University Of Melbourne
SwinBurne University of Technology
Elucent
Tribe
Banki Haddock Fiora
The Royal Melbourne Hospital
Gilbert+Tobin
Australian Government
Macpherson Kelley
Peter Mac
Tassal
Adobe Professional
Aqium Gel
Telstra
Cronos Australia
Coles
Moov Head Lice
The Burger Cheese
DeeWhy Market
Grays Ecommerce
King Wood Mallesons
Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre – MSAC
DepSkin.com
Rackspace
Google
Eway
Liveoneday
Melbourne Central
Australian Anthill
ISO Certified
Drupal
Mamma Lucia
Instant RockStar
Jetstar
Federation University Australia
WTFN
Hanover
Catholic Insurance
Passage To India
Palace Cinemas
Macmillan Publishing
Focus On Furniture
Positive Poster
Chia
Marshall White
PranaOn
HGG 
Matchbox Homewares
Thomson Geer
Max’s
Smart Company
LBG Australia and New Zealand
The Fortune Institute
QV Skincare
Amino Active
Castran Gilbert
Mecca Brands
Magento Solution Specialist
OJAY
One Shift
Garmin
Hairhouse Warehouse
Celebrate Health
ACTUATE IP
Crumpler
DUSA, Deakin University Student Association
CSquared Executive
Microsoft Certified Azure Fundamentals
Craft CMS
Maxine
Taylor Rose
Toy World
Sunday Creek
VISSF
Engine Swim
Madman Entertainment
Viktoria & Woods
GooglePlay
Beaumont
Green St Juice CO
CB Richard Ellis
Oakdale Meat Co
Movember
Watches of Switzerland
Bulk Nutrients
Schiavello
Bigcommerce
Jalna
Street Kitchen
Vendor Advocacy Australia
Xavier
Bank of Cyprus
Australian Organic Food CO
Natralus Australia
Grow Your Business
ISO CERTIFIED 27001
Kadac
Atlantic Group of Companies
Fairfax Media
Tomorrow Stars Basketball
Switzer Media+Publishing
Ego Pharmaceuticals
Florsheim Shoes
iPrimus
Scrum.org
Mark Alexander Design

Testimonials

Not only is Michael professional but he is also a great friend to have in your court. He is balanced in his advice, fair in his quotes and has the best twitter feed for all things tech - i highly recommend you follow him and also hire him! Clare Smith, GM – Brand & Marketing Communications at Sensis

More Testimonials
AndMine-Google-Partner-Signature