IE8 Upgrade If Incompatibility Drives You Crazy We Suggest You Wait
Well this morning I thought, “Why not?” and decided to update my Internet Explorer 7 to IE8. My reasoning seemed sound, I don’t use IE much – I’m a much bigger fan of Firefox, but what the heck.
I did do some research prior to making this change, hearing the good, the bad, and the downright ugly.
It’s unfortunate that (so far and I’m just getting started) viewing my own (other) website, My Wizard Ads now places that web site – viewing with IE8 – in the downright “ugly” category.
(Don’t despair, there is hope, just )
I did check the setting so that IE8 is suppose to make all sites I visit “compatible with older browsers” (meaning their own “older browsers,” too, one would assume). The problem is… it doesn’t work.
For anyone who was (stupid?) like I was and upgraded, the background of the aforementioned website is now nothing more than a replication of the very top header graphic (over and over and over) on the left. On the right it gets even “better” (sarcasm intended) by repeating the footer over and over and over.
Gone are my wonderful 1s and 0s that used to make up a rather catchy tech-type background.
So if you are hoping to fix this problem, here supposedly are the instructions (found here), but I will tell you ahead of time it’s a complete waste of time:
Q. Why don’t some websites display correctly in Internet Explorer 8?
The information in this Help topic applies to Windows Internet Explorer 8.
Websites that were designed for earlier versions of Internet Explorer might not display correctly in the current version. However, you can often improve how a website will look in Internet Explorer by using a new feature called Compatibility View.
When you turn on Compatibility View, the webpage you’re viewing—as well as any other webpages within the website’s domain—will be displayed as if you were using an earlier version of Internet Explorer.
To turn on Internet Explorer Compatibility View
1. Open Internet Explorer by clicking the Start button , and then clicking Internet Explorer.
2. Click the Tools button, and then click Compatibility View.
If Internet Explorer recognizes a webpage that is not compatible, you will see the Compatibility View button on the Address bar. To turn Compatibility View on or off, click the Compatibility View button .
From now on, whenever you visit this website, it will be displayed in Compatibility View. However, if the website receives updates to display correctly in the current version of Internet Explorer, Compatibility View will automatically turn off.
Note: Not all website display problems are caused by browser incompatibility. Interrupted Internet connections, heavy traffic, or website bugs can also affect how a webpage is displayed.
Live and learn. It must be what many using Vista go through in the transition – I’m using XP – but you would think that since this IS their browser, they would have had the tech people working just a tad harder to make sure it was compatible with the rest of their own stuff!
Thanks so much Microsoft (again sarcasm), hopefully your tech people are at work really trying to make the compatibility function work.
My final word… wait a long while and in the meantime, just change over to Firefox, you’ll be a lot happier anyway. Even though I did put off changing it up until it was released from its beta version, it most certainly appears to be beta to me.
SPECIAL NOTE/UPDATE TO POST This note is only going to help you out if you physically have access to the website, but read what acidmartin has to say and follow his advice closely. It goes before ANYTHING else on the page… but I’ll let him explain.
Related articles
- Take Your Paws Off My System, Microsoft | CloudAve (cloudave.com)
- Download Internet Explorer 8 RC1 for Vista, XP (downloadsquad.com)
- Windows 7 E Misses Out On Internet Explorer (ubergizmo.com)
Tags: caution, compatibility, complete waste of time, firefox, help topic, IE7, IE8, internet explorer 7, internet explorer 8, warning, windows internet
June 14th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
I really prefer working on mozilla firefox. Explorer can be troublesome..
Maureen´s last blog ..Life Without Limitations?
June 14th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
I rarely use IE. I prefer Firefox. I upgraded Firefox on my other laptop though and now my Entrecard toolbar won’t work. Boo hoo.
June 14th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
@Maureen I agreed!
@Karen – strangely enough I was in our cpanel last night clearly out (OMG) 75,000 messages that should have gone into the blackhole of death but weren’t (they are now!). Turns out working with IE8 to do it was faster than Firefox. However, for regular browsing I definitely prefer Firefox.
Diane Scott´s last blog ..How To eHow Has Your Answers
June 15th, 2009 at 11:51 am
I too prefer Firefox. My husband upgraded to IE8. Not a problem for him, but he doesn’t do much online. Others, and now you too have said it is a waste of time!
Barbara´s last blog ..Take A “Green†Vacation!
June 15th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Hi Barbara! Sorry if I’m implying it’s a “waste of time,” it’s not. It’s just if you are a website owner be aware your WEBSITE (it doesn’t seem to be affecting blogs) might need some modification unless you are creating it under the IE8 browser and/or your html editor is up to date and making adjustments). Other than that, it appears to work just fine. For those with websites where things just don’t look right anymore, do read the above again, there is a tweak as long as you physically have access to all the pages on your site.
June 15th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
i typically use explorer because it’s what i’m used to, but i do prefer firefox. my husband likes chrome the best. he says it’s much faster.
cady´s last blog ..Baby Week
June 15th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Haven’t tried Chrome at all… Upgrading any browser other than Firefox sort of freaks me out LOL! Firefox, a piece of cake. The others… you just never know what’s going to happen – usually nothing, but I’m paranoid
June 16th, 2009 at 8:39 am
I always lag behind on updates – I let everyone else work out the kinks first, otherwise I panic. Haha.
corrin´s last blog ..Party Girl
June 23rd, 2009 at 6:40 am
Interesting!
I feel like there is a scarcity of good marketing today. Good marketing means which can convert the leads into sales. The only marketing that has moved me in the last couple of years is Social Media Optimization.