March 19th, 2009
Microsoft have today announced the release of their new version of popular web browser Internet Explorer, available for download from 4pm (GMT) today (Thursday).
Version Eight of the browser brings a host of new features and finally a welcome addition of a web standards rendering engine. A full list of features and more information on the browser can be found on Microsoft’s IE homepage or on their development blog
Hopefully this will release will mark the end of Internet Explorer 6, the bane of website developers everywhere, IE6 is almost 8 years old and now 2 versions behind the stable release, so people still running it are compromising their security with outdated software and disrupting their online experience by using a browser riddled with bugs.
I for one am taking this opportunity to draw a line in the sand and will no longer test my site designs in IE6, I will also be adding a small pop-up message to alert users visiting via IE6 that while they are welcome, they are visiting the site using outdated software and the site may not be compatible, I will also be providing a link to upgrade to IE8 (would be rude not to add a Firefox link as well 
)
UPDATE: (16/04/09 @ 22:04)
True to my word, if you now visit my website in Internet Explorer versions 7 or below, you will get an Information bar pop-up advsiing to update your browser.
Tags: firefox, IE6, IE8, internet explorer, Microsoft
Posted in Microsoft, Tools of the Trade | 2 Comments »
March 14th, 2009
Over the last couple of days, popular social networking site Facebook has unveiled yet another user interface design, just 6 months since the last big change and once again this drastically changes the way a user interacts with the site.
The new ‘homepage’ has taken a page out of twitters book (someone jumping on the bandwagon maybe??) in the way it works and focuses on what users and their friends are doing right now, from reading the comments on the facebook blog the general consensus is that changing the site to be more like twitter is a bad move and a majority want the old designs back.
This issue raises an important question over user interface design and how regularly we should update our site designs and application interfaces. Changing the way your users move around and use the site should never be taken lightly, people generally don’t like change, we get used to doing something a particular way and don’t like being told to do it a different way. On the other hand we like and enjoy new and exciting looking websites that are easy to use and don’t take us too long to do what we want to do.
The rate that design trends come and go and web technology moves on, mean that we would have to update our sites every few months to keep up and keep new members joining up, but update your site too often and your existing members may get update with the constant changes to the site.
The trick to this delicate balance is to keep your changes small and regular and make sure you let people know before you make the change, spring a big user interface change on people and they will get their backs up (as people on facebook are doing now) but if you release smaller updates and tell your users why your doing it and how it will improve their browsing experience then they are more likely to accept the changes without starting a lynching mob. There will always be those that are resistant to change and threaten to leave and take all their friends with them but if you keep your users in the loop, maybe offer a few beta testers a chance to provide feedback on new designs / interface and you will keep your existing users happy while still bringing in new ones.
Posted in Website Design | No Comments »
March 12th, 2009
The end is nigh….for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer that is. It has been rumoured that version eight of the popular web browser will be the last in the Internet Explorer line and the brand will be discontinued. Now this may come as good news to scores of web developers across the world, this isn’t the end for Microsoft in terms of its fight for browser dominance.
It is believed that the next browser to come out of the Redmond camp will be based on the new and exciting Project Gazelle, recently announced by Microsoft Research. Gazelle is a completely new browser and has been rebuilt from the ground up. It currently consists of 5,000 lines of C# code, runs with a sandboxed kernal to prevent unauthorised access to the users operating system and uses a multi-process approach to tabs meaning each tab has its own process so if one crashes the whole application doesnt freeze up.
It is also rumoured the new browser will run with webkit (the rendering engine used by safari, opera and google chrome) which is fast becoming the norm for none-IE / Firefox based browsers, I for one hope this doesnt happen as Im not a huge fan of webkit and its many flaws, but then I am an avid firefox fanboi.
Talking of rumours (this being a theme of this post) IE 8 is expected to be released at Microsoft’s Mix 09 conference next week, Microsoft Taiwan has even given a release date of 20th March.
Having tested Internet Explorer 8 from beta 1 I have to say this is definatly the best version yet and I hope this is pushed out via one of Redmonds Patch Tuesdays as a critical update forcing users to upgrade. I will be adding an “Upgrade to IE8″ message to my site for visitors using IE7 or god forbif IE6.
Further Reading
Tags: C#, firefox, Gazelle, IE6, IE7, IE8, internet explorer, Microsoft, Redmond, webkit
Posted in Tools of the Trade | 2 Comments »
March 12th, 2009
I have just received an email off Mozilla to announce the release of the 3rd beta version of Firefox 3.1 so thought i would post it on here in case anyone isnt signed up to the beta mailing list and wants to use the latest version.
Greetings to all of our great community testers – you are our most valuable resource. We now have *Firefox 3.1 Beta 3* available for testing. Note that this build is a beta and is intended for pre-release testing. We would like your help in testing the release and identifying any possible regressions or issues.
*_What to Test/Where to Get Builds_:*
(Note: If you are riding the “beta” channel, you can manually check for updates and update to this build). Otherwise you will have to download from the directory below.
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html
Please hammer on these builds mercilessly to make sure that things work well! If you notice things that worked in Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 and do not work in this release, we would like to know about it right away.
_*Read the Release Notes*_
*Please also make sure to read the Release Notes which detail the known issues: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/3.1b3/releasenotes/
***_How to Report Feedback_:*
(1) File a bug in *https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/. *Note in the comment if it is a regression from a previous release. Things to remember when filing a bug:
(a) Always include the Build ID that you tested on. If you type about: in the URL bar, this will give you the Build ID.
(b) Always include clear Steps to Reproduce the bug
(c) Always check to see if your bug has already been filed. This link will help: http://tinyurl.com/2465be
(d) Use the regression keyword if it indeed a regression from a previous release.
(e) If you happen to crash, please include the Breakpad ID in the bug. You can get this by typing about:crashes in the URL bar.
(2) If you don’t wish to file a bug, report issues through http://feedback.mozilla.org or through the mozilla.feedback.firefox.prerelease newsgroup (also available on Google Groups). However, we prefer bugs as feedback is easier to track.
Thanks in advance to all of you for helping test Firefox and making it the browser of choice for millions of people all over the world! We are getting ever closer to the final release and thank you for your participation.
marcia, on behalf of
Team Mozilla QA
Tags: 3.1, beta, firefox, mozilla
Posted in Mozilla, Tools of the Trade | No Comments »
March 12th, 2009
Mozilla have announced that the forth beta version (due for release 14th April) of the next instalment of popular browser Firefox will skip a few versions from 3.1 to 3.5.
Firefox director Mike Beltzner announced on the developer news blog that due to the inclusion of many new features (TraceMonkey, Private Browsing , etc not to mention the number of bug fixes already added to Firefox 3.1 ment that an increase in version number to reflect the changes was required.
Further updates for us Add-On developers is to be announced in due course via the wiki, and probably the mailing list too.
for more information, visit these sites:
Tags: 3.1, 3.5, beta, developer, firefox, Mike Beltzner, Tracemonkey
Posted in Tools of the Trade, Website Design | 1 Comment »