Should Web Sites Block Old Browsers?

Is Online Radio Killing Traditional Radio Advertising?Isn’t Mario Kart Wii Fun?Do you have Tips for Presentation Style?Do you Monitor and Mold your Reputation Online?What’s the Future of Portable Computing?The Truth about Wikipedia CreditShould Web Sites Block Old Browsers?How Do You Travel with Electronics?The State of Tech Culture in IowaWhat does it Take to Drive Traffic to your Videos?Unboxing an Asus Eee PC Ultraportable ComputerDo You Like Taking Road Trips?Why Would Someone Want to Blog about Magpies?

Lol, You make Me giggle :P

Firefox isn’t the fastest.
Nor does it claim to be.

Firefox is the best browser for the technical population as people can delevop things for it alot easier.

Its Phishing Filter is by far the best from any other web browser.

It’s VERY fast, Faster Than IE, Safari, Netscape to name a few. I’d say the only browser that’s faster is Opera.

And that’s because it loads up the page without anything else.
Thatds My 2 pennies :P

People use linux? Ya right if they are still useing 98 they need to get a life.

not everyone gets a brand new pc for free everyweek ppl need to be able to use the fookin net you odd looking nerd

frasercjackson , he wasnt saying get abrand new pc, cmon 98 its frikin 10 years old, its time to upgrade. or get linux , its free!!

i use windows 98

Yes, IE 6 is VERY common coz people don’t understand the idea of Firefox.

i think that older web browsers should be block cause they can pose a big security risk to thereselfs and to others posibley, cause the older web browers dont have filter and what not. over all they should be bloked

where can i get your screen saver from?

know u should tell those ppl who use 98 to get a new system unit

now its IE 7

???? is it a money problem? or are u conceited. if its the former. im srry for this reply.

if its a latter. then GET XP. or beter yet. BUY A NEW SYSTEM UNIT. wait. just buy a low end mac (mac mini). jeeez man. even schools are switching to XP, and they were using 98 until 3 years ago

Problem with PayPal is it’s not JUST browsers that are old. They’re blocking any browser without phishing protection which includes Safari and Konqueror 3.5.x and 4.x. While I agree that it’s good to strongly prod people to update, in this case, they are blocking browsers that are perfectly secure. Just because a browser doesn’t empliment the anti-phishing features in Firefox or IE doesn’t mean that it should be blocked.

I totally agree with this, with the growing about of risk of running into a phishing sight its VERY important to only run the newest browser.

0.12% of visitors to my site are using Netscape. 96.7% are using Firefox or IE. Then there is (in this order) Opera, Safari, Mozilla, Camino and Firebird.

You suck!

I use Windows 98 SE on my quad core with all the hacked patches so I can still play modern games ;)

I can’t agree more! And here’s another reason.
Being a web designer, I struggle on all of my projects to make websites work correctly on Internet Explorer 6. This browser is hell, and I spend twice the amount of time just to fix problems on it. Unfortunately there are too many people still using it, so websites have to be compliant with it.

I think they should block older browsers. Even ones that are only a few years old rise compatibility and security issues. Without protection from phising and other malicious sites, you can pretty easily be hacked. In my opinion any browser that is at least two years old should be updated without question. Which leads me to the point that most companies refuse to update their browsers. And to me I think a company has vital and private info that if obtained by an outsider could compromise the company in many ways.

So by blocking older browsers inthink it can somewhat force everbody to upgrade to safer, more reliable browsers.

why?

Speed

I use windows 98 because I don’t see a reason to upgrade.

@Gary Greene – paypal denied it would block safari. not sure on konqueror. http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/04/21/2352204

i think it should be up to the company who built the site. it’s their product/service. they should decide what platform they want it on.

They use IE 6 because it came with the XP installation and they don’t care about it being sucky. Kinda like me a long time ago… Then I upgraded to FireFox and now I’m a better man (or at least a less aggravated one)

Dude no it’s not like they don’t care it’s more like they don’t know.
And thank you for switching Firefox and making my life as a web designer 1 person easier ;)

I could hardly disagree more.

First, I’ll explain that my own computers run Windows XP and Linux. On those computers, I’ve installed the latest version of almost every browser you can name (I do accessibility testing). I think it’s important for many reasons to use the most current stable version of whatever browser you prefer. The more standards-compliant, the better.

But last month, some old friends came to me with a like-new 10-year-old Mac Powerbook G3. They’ve used another old Mac to publish two books on local history, and they wanted to upgrade the OS and RAM on this one and install Adobe Pagemaker. It was a very sensible idea for a small local historical society with few resources, and I was happy to help.

Long story short: The only browsers I found that function with this perfectly functional old computer are IE5 and iCab, which you’ve probably never heard of. iCab worked best of the two. We needed to be able to connect with Adobe and Apple for software updates, and iCab (barely) made this possible.

To “lock out” old browsers is a violation of the W3C’s web standards, and particularly of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The principle of “progressive enhancement” works very well, but far too few web developers use it in these early Wild West days of the Internet. By designing well, we can give everyone what they need with a minimum of risk. It’s the people who REQUIRE us to enable javascript and Flash and such by default that are promoting dangerous surfing habits. I’m all for Rich Internet Apps, but I choose carefully who and what I allow to control my CPU, and I encourage others to do so.

Caveat emptor! The end user must bear the responsibility for protection from phishing and all other Internet dangers. Responsible developers encourage and enable that protection, rather than denying access to those who can’t afford to upgrade to the latest-and-greatest hardware, bandwidth, whizbang plug-in or whatever. Irresponsible developers deliver pop-under ads and in varying degrees take away the control that each end user should have over his/her browsing experience.

Yes, almost all browsers are now completely free and greatly improved over their past incarnations. But they are not equally functional for everyone, and to deny one of them is to deny access to some end users who have little or no choice. To me, and to many small online business owners who need every customer they can get, that’s not acceptable.

It’s our choice. Personally, I think our landfills are filling up too quickly already with toxic waste from old computer parts that may still give good service. We should do what we can to conserve them.

Also if work provides you with a computer then they will not let you upgrade to IE7 because they have not tested it sufficiently yet, like it will be a long time before businesses update to Vista. These things take time in a corporate environment.

I agree with you Chris. Many websites should be doing this. Its a great way to help people keep there computers safe. Your web browser is a big factor in your systems protection from viruses and other things.If your still using IE6 for example you should highly consider upgrading. If your still using something like IE5 then WoW, uhhh yeah, You need help. lol. But yeah this is a great idea. More people will be upgrading and keeping computers safe. This needs to be used on Highly visited Websitesm such as Ebay, Amazon, Myspace and Facebook (BIG) and websites like those.

Eee ya later

So elitist. So very elitist. If everyone’s required to upgrade hardware/software every year or two, then the internet will be available only to geeks and people with a good deal of money. And that is exactly NOT what the internet is about.

the reason why sites block older browsers is because the dont understand
the newer xhtml or html or other coding it is logical bit it can be anoying
when on older os’

I totally like this idea. Although this is what Microsoft tried to do with vista but they too it way to far. So re you going to block older web browsers on your blog. I mean if your going to support it must must represent.

First off as you said if you’re still using anything older than Windows XP unless its 2000 you’re a loser anyways. By now anyone can afford a new computer. And if you need to use Windows 98 in this day an age, either you’re as old as dirt and don’t care or to young to understand. IE4,5 and even 6SP1 are basically usuless. IE6SP1 is just ok at teh least but 7 is more worth the deal. I am a web designer and my pages require IE7 period. Anything older and the page doesn’t even load. Grow up people newer software is avialble becauseit is need and its FREE. haven’t you heard teh best thing in life are FREE.

Hm… yeah, I actually have my doubts about this. Think about this: some people have Linux distributions burned to a CD and when there’s a new release, they upgrade it over the Internet. But what if the system crashes, the version they have on disk is like 1 1/2 years old or even older and they install it, but they first want to check their PayPal-account for the money they’ve been waiting for from a far friend out of (you name the country).

But since PayPal has been blocking the older browsers, that’s not possible and they first have to wait one-and-a-half hours to upgrade the system to the newest version before they could check their money balance…?

I mean, I get the phishing thing and yes, it’s creepy, but can’t PayPal just make a kind of brand in their e-mails so you can verify it’s real? Like some kind of digital seal which can only be used in e-mails from PayPal.com.

Yeah, I know, this is a huge reaction, but I was just brainstorming about that. You know, it is a very interesting topic.

Well, that’s my huge comment for this time, Chris.

Bye everyone!

Daan.

I think that some websites, that need the security against hackers and other computer thieves. Cause they are well responsible for you data, and if they know that people can get into there data if they are using a older browser places like Pay Pal Should definitely require newer browsers. And for gosh sakes people it takes two minutes too update your browser so just do it.

Well, I do have a Win98 computer.
Thing is, It CAN use the latest FireFox.
I ran .14 on it, and it ran well. Not the best, but well up to the people who use it.
I think what PayPal has done is pretty decent, and good.
This really does protect them, and the end-users.
Nice post!
-Ruben

NO!!!!! What if you can’t update, Your screwed!!!! NOOO

If you are using paypal and don’t want to switch browsers, you don’t have to. Keep using your favorite browser, but download another one that will meet paypal’s requirements. I recommend using a variety of browsers for different tasks. My math class gives online assignments that can only be accessed via IE. This is the only time I ever use IE.

As Chris says, you still need to keep all of these browsers up to date.

I suggest downloading several browsers to use for different tasks. My math class gives online assignments that only work on IE. I use IE for this and firefox for everything else. If you like Safari, keep using it. Have another browser on hand for any site that doesn’t work with Safari.

As Chris emphasizes, keep any browser you use updated.

i use firefox beta, is it bug-loaded, i like it.

I use Firefox and at school I use a portable version of Firefox 2.0 even though they don’t want us to and want us to use IE6. xD

Well, deep sigh, I have among my computers, an old Thinkpad that can only run W98. And because of it’s quirks, only FF1.x runs (FF2 has issues). I doubt I’d ever use the box for visiting PayPal, but the general consensus here is that I should move to Linux (abandoning perfectly functioning Windows software) so I could use more ‘modern’ browsers. Otherwise let the Thinkpad become junk.

I personally think that PayPal would do better with warnings about the user’s browser, but allow access after the warning. Phishing is an issue with various on-line services, but thinking that a browser will always be smart enough to detect all malware is simply nonsense. There has yet to be total protection from the various nefarious folk who exploit various obscure holes in software.

I am concerned that web designers say “I only work with IE7+, etc”. Or that math problems require IE, etc. These kinds of restrictions only tell me that the designers are clueless coders unable to retrograde to other browsers including older ones. So their pages won’t ‘look good’ with older browsers or the functionality might be limited, can they not provide the information in other ways? I suppose this kind of thinking has been around since browsers began, but I still think it shows limited thinking.

I sympathize with those who have older machines, given my older W98 box. Of course I also still have Macbooks running OS6!

lol when Chris said “IE 8 is possibily gonna be better, just use FireFox” my fully up to date FireFox crashed!!!! hahaha

Completely agreed! I think blocking old browsers will do many things. First it will get people of there lazy butts and get better software onto their computer. Second it will help security for people and hackers will need to be on their toes. Paypal is doing a good thing in my opinion and they need to move it to ebay and amazon and sites like that. I think it would help society in general

I think that companies should not block old browsers. Some of their customers may be running an operating system that works best with a certain version of a browser. i think that if the company really cares about their customers, they will support all browsers.

this is actually a very good point. i agree with you that every site should just kick out those old browsers. my friend is currently using windows 95. its been more than 10 years! he refuses to upgrade because he likes the classic feel of windows 95. ahhhhh! someone needs to come out of the stone age!

My parents are still using netscape.lol.its absurd! they have had their netscape email since they got married about ooo….12 years ago. when filling out their email address on paperwork people have actually asked them..”netscape? i haven’t heard of them” hahaha!

I currently use many different web browsers from mozilla to safari. mostly i use mozilla firefox because of the interface is so customizable.

I think that you are correct and that more popular sights like youtube, myspace, facebook, and even google, or yahoo.

We just need Microsoft to do the great service of back-porting IE7 & when released IE8 to windows 2000 as a critical update. I’m not holding out much hope though :-(

Yeah, this is quite a good idea, as the latest browsers have better security

BUT…On older OSs, you won’t be able to use the site, as the latest browsers have compatibility issues

When I upgraded to IE7 I had trouble with my computer and had to revert back to IE6. Same with my wifes computer. I think Microsoft should get it right before they introduce a new product.

The only people that have a reason for using an old browser are people who can’t afford a new computer/os. And Linux isn’t a good option for some people who aren’t very good with tech or are afraid of using it. Then again, windows 98 can run firefox so the is no reason not to use it. Other than that, I agree with what you are saying.

I don’t see why any would would it would take away form the traffic on the website witch in turn mite lose them some money in the long run.

My Dawg,

You make a good point here in regards to security. I wish that Al Gore would have thought about this when he invented the internet.

I suspect that the average human doesn’t want to update their browser because it would mean having to learn new software. You know…. the interface probably won’t be quite as familiar to them after the upgrade.

Actually, I switched to Firefox about a year and a half ago…. and I hated how unfamiliar my browser was to me. It probably took a good month to get used to it and the switch was totally worth it…. but man…. what a painful month!

I’m guessing that the best thing to do is to keep on top of your browser updates. That way, you’ll never have to go through any drastic changes like I did. :OP

Keep on programming the universe,
James Gia

My mother still uses 98

i have used computers(which i have no control over) which still use windows 98. ant to tell you the truth, the browsing experience is hell.. flash won’t play properly, graphics is a nightmare, and don’t get me started with the layout.

Some of the computers in my school run windows 98… lol, they can’t have anything higher cuz they suck. XD

This is a good idea. It is costly to have to continue to make site that work with all this incompatible browsers. Not to mention it hinders growth. Having to do browsers checks to serve up diferent versions of a websitesite, and or conditional css simply makes your site a little slower and more difficult to maintain and support. I dont believe that we have a responsibilty to make the internet somthing that can be used no matter how old or bad your system and software is.

Also for those that say the end user should be responsible for security is easier said then done. Case in point for a site like PayPal that deals with money, they made the descision based on risk. If someone took the court over the info being comprimesed (via phishing or cross site scripting) it would cost PayPal alot of money even if they won the suite. And trust me the end user isn’t going to think it was his fault nor will he want to take responsibility.

As for corporations that still have a policy to hold onto old browsers because it is to problematic to upgrade. If you company is that large that you think it will take a long time to upgrade you should have an IT department that has the propertool were they could push out the updates and deploy a new browser over night. If not then fire you IT department and outdource (because they could do it). And you should do it. The biggest security threast to a network is the interent. And the browser is the main interface to it, it should be up to date and secure.

The only way people will ever wake up and adopt softhing new is if you make them. People are more then willing to install plugins and there updates to see the content of the site. All you need to do is tell them to.