How many years ago did IE 6 come out now? Oh, I don’t even know. Web years are like dog years. So let’s say 56 years ago. That’s what is seems like. So no wonder it feels strange to continue to code for IE 6 - 56 years after it came out.

I don’t ask my local motorcycle shop why they aren’t compatible with my 1962 Lambretta. Oh I could try to tell them that my Lambretta is more secure or that it just “works for me”. But they won’t care. They’ll laugh and look on nostalgically as I putter out of site. Leaving huge puffs of white smoke that signal my hip exhibition of love for the retro life. O.K. I admit that an old scooter is much more useful than an old browser, but you get my point.

So fear not ye old time web scooters, er, well… more like Larks. I shall still support your ancient religion of IE 6. It might no look exactly the same. But how will you even know? That would mean that you are viewing the site on 2 different browsers, one old and unwise to the ways of the modern CSS, and one new and capable of these aesthetic formations. Why would you do that? Use a modern browser and an old one? Well, you wouldn’t. Neither would most anyone else, save for those of us that toil in this trade.

Here’s what we can do:

Serve you a unique set of CSS that will make the site look acceptable. It won’t have all the good looks of the modern browsers, but you won’t know. How could you?

And it will look like this:

<!--[if lt IE 7]>

<link href="style/ie6isGreat.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />

<![endif]-->

Then we’ll hide all the PNG files and unsupported CSS from you and replace them with GIFs or something. Yes we could use some javascript to force you to see those PNGs. But, like I said, I’m not sure it’s worth it.

So please understand, if your vehicle is 56 years old, the road might not look the same but I’ll make sure that it will eventually get you to the same place.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 6th, 2009 and is filed under CSS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.