Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) came out approximately 6 years after Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), a very long time between any two versions of software, but especially on the Internet. During this time, Internet Explorer 6 was the most common browser, and Microsoft took that for granted, and other, better browsers, came out.

IE7 was Microsoft’s response to Firefox, Safari, and Opera. With 6 years to develop the next generation of browser, you would expect the new version to have any and every feature under the sun. So let’s look at what it got right vs. what is got wrong during this time.

What IE7 got right

• IE7 includes an decent RSS reader.  IE6 didn’t support RSS at all, and Firefox’s and Safari’s built in readers are adequate for those who only check a few feeds.  IE7 actually has a useful RSS reader that remembers what you have seen.
• Tabs – every other browser had them, and now IE does as well.
• Improved security – built in security features help you determine, and protect you, if a site is potentially unsafe or might try to steal your information.  The protections tend to fall into three separate categories:
  • unsafe JavaScript and active X controls.  By limiting the ability for these to run, it protects you from both bad & nefarious programmers.
  • phishing sites – these are sites which try to steal your information, usually by masquerading as another site (eBay, your bank, PayPal, etc)
  • checking for security certificates – while this isn’t new, they present the danger of a site which has a bad or out of date security certificate more prominently, to increase the chance of you noticing this error
• Improved compliance with web standards.
• Support for PNG – now transparencies work.  This is a huge improvement which can allow smaller, yet better looking, images to be displayed on web sites.

What IE7 missed

• The interface. How you use your software is important, and IE7 changed/moved many of the menus and buttons.  This makes if difficult to use until you get used to it.  After using IE7 for over 9 months, I can honestly say, I’m still not that used to it. And while some elements were moved to take up less space, the over all feel for the browser is that the buttons are larger, and have large soft rounded edges, which ends up taking up more space.
• Tabs – While IE7 has them, they seem to be thrown in as an after thought.  Launching a new tab takes longer in IE7 than any other browser.
• Compliance with web standards – IE7 is the second least compliant of the major browsers when it comes to web standards, only after IE6. While it made great strides forward, it still has a ways to go. This main affects web developers and web site owners as they have to craft work arounds to make a site work correctly in all the browsers, but this does lead to larger sites that take longer to download, and sites which are harder to maintain over time. The fact that IE6 and IE7 are not standards compliant, leads many websites to not fully utilize the web as they could.
• Tight Integration with Windows – the part which Microsoft argued about bundling IE6 with Windows, still exist.  This tight integration, makes it a little faster (supposedly), however, it also puts you at higher risk of being affected by malicious code.
• Their security model – IE security in many ways has two modes, off and on. These limitations cause major issues if something needs to run, but is blocked.  Unblocking that one site can often open the door for many more sites and/or operations.  The same features which make IE easy to integrate with back office applications, also allow your system to be hacked, and without an easy way to block sites and/or operations, users get limited to either not being able to run all of the features of a site, or risking getting hacked.
• Lack of performance – many performance test show IE to be one of the slowest browsers on the market.

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Popularity: unranked [?]

Image via Wikipedia

I’ve recently been talking about Google’s new browser, Chrome, looking at why you might want to and not want to use it. So I thought I’d recap other browsers as well.

One which can’t be ignored is Internet Explorer 6 (IE6).

IE6 is probably the longest surviving web browser of all time, and is both loved and hated.

Ye old Browser

It came out in August of 2001, over 7 years ago at this point of this writing, which in Internet years means it might as well be over 700 years old.

While IE6 was highly touted as the most advanced browser when it was released, 7 years makes those features “old hat” . Newer browsers and versions have been released with even newer and better features since IE6′s initial release.

Why Upgrade

So why should you upgrade to a newer browser? Glad you asked:

1. Newer browsers have built in support to protect you from phishing attacks. These include displaying prominent messages when dealing with a potentially dangerous site.
2. Reduced chance of being hacked. IE6′s security model lends it self to being easy to hack your computer.
3. Improved support of web standards. – IE6 is the bane of web developers because of incompatibilities with current web standards, which provide an inconsistent experience compared to other browsers. Modern browsers tend to support standards more consistently.  This means that what you see on the screen is more likely to be correct, and web applications are more likely to work correctly.
4. Improved stability. IE6 is known to be a bit flaky, and crash when dealing with intense websites.
5. Improved User Interface. Most modern browsers have improved the user experience, including things like easier ways to organize your bookmarks/favorites, built in search box, etc.

Popularity: unranked [?]

In the past, the search engines (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Live, et all) couldn’t really search Flash files that well. Well Adobe has been working with the search engines to allow them to search the Flash sites, widgets, buttons, and more.

This is good news on the surface, but still requires one digging a little deeper before trying to get a nifty Flash site. Here are three quick take aways to know about, before

The first thing to know, is you still have to use text, as text, to be searchable. Many Flash developers convert the text into something known as shapes so that they can manipulate it easier to look nice on your screen. While your site will look nicer overall, it will cause the search engine to fail to read that part of you Flash site.

Second, most search engines cannot run JavaScript. Because of a software patent issue, Internet Explorer needs JavaScript to write the Flash file to the webpage. So now, in many cases, your Flash site is no longer searchable.

Flash screens, are not the same as web pages, and that means it will be harder to isolate a topic and rank for it, when looking at the overall site with all of the other text working along with it. Add upon that, that most Flash developers are inexperienced at Search Engine Optimization, and lack good tools to build a search optimized site (links, individual pages, helpful page elements, etc) they will most likely not be able to help you rank like a good HTML based website could.

Overall, I would hold off on developing your all Flash based sites if you are interested in long term Search Engine rankings. (Besides, most developers charge more for Flash sites – use that money to make more content which can rank in the search engines, it will be money better spent.)

SEOmoz has more information on his views on why Flash and Search Engines still don’t mix.

Popularity: 1% [?]

In the last article, we looked at why you would want to use a blog on your web site. We mentioned that people can either use a blog as their web site, or simply add it in addition to their web site. We even used GM’s Fastlane blog as an example of a corporate blog that you may not expect. Obviously GM, a manufacture of cars, is not the technology work horse you would expect when you think of other companies which might blog (like IBM, Microsoft, Google, and others).

Obviously, the amount of time you can provide to your site/blog will depend your time, your team (if more than one will be posting), and the importance you place upon your blog.

 Blog Examples

Recently Mack Collier wrote for Search Engine Guide about some good examples of company blogs. Some are from companies which you would expect as well.

• Kodak - 1,000 words – provides photo tips, sample photos from various people, as well as how to use their products.
• Fiskateers – provides information about scrap booking. With several author’s they often post daily or more often, and include contest even.
• Others include Dell’s Direct2Dell, LinkedIn’s blog, and Innocent Drink’s Daily Thoughts.

 Integrating your Blog

Once you have decided to add a blog into your web site, you have to figure out how to integrate it into your web site.

Consider your existing design. You should pick a platform that will allow you to modify it’s design to fit into your existing site.  I’ve seen too many people use something like Blogger.com, which allows only minimal configuration, so you cannot incorporate it into an existing site design.  Creating a link to the blog, does not constitute incorporation.

The easiest way  is to incorporate a WordPress blog on your site.  If you cannot customize it, then hire someone who can.
Add Blog information to your existing site. Not only should there be a link to the blog (of course), but adding RSS feeds (more on those in an upcoming article scheduled within the next 5 days) to the existing pages.  If you cannot add it on your hosts, you need to seriously consider moving to a different host.

This can be done even if the site doesn’t follow modern web conventions.  A few weeks ago I had to integrate a WordPress blog into a site which we developed using tables and images.  While it made integrating the information into the site more difficult, it was put in, and if you don’t know to notice the blog specific pages, you  cannot tell.  I’m currently waiting for the site owner to publicly release the site before I showcase it here.

Should your blog replace your site? This is always an interesting question. WordPress, for example, allows you to have pages which are different than posts.  Because they can be processed independently, instead of in a chronological order as posts as, you can move your entire site to be driven from your blog. This obviously makes integration easier, but you have to talk to someone who can check your site for custom code to see how likely it is to be able to be moved.

I’m currently doing this with a site which you should see finished in a few weeks.  The entire site, standard pages and all will be done within WordPress, and it has made several parts much easier to integrate into the system than if it had been split between normal web pages and blog pages.

Popularity: 21% [?]