No, this is not another Microsoft bashing tantrum, but a legitimate gripe that I believe could be easily resolved if only developers would take the right stance. Every serious web developer knows the trouble in creating websites that would render correctly in IE. Do some googling and you'll turn up a lot of complaints from developers about Microsoft's refusal to support standards, in particular CSS standards. However these same developers would create sites that implement non-standards compliant hacks so as to accommodate IE's shortcomings. The logic generally being that IE commands most (as of this writing 86%) of the browser market so it would be “Insane” for a website not to “Support” it. Notice I quote the word Support, because websites aren't supposed to be supporting browsers. Rather it should be the other way around, browsers should be supporting all websites by striving to correctly and completely implement standards. The demand for standards compliance isn't a radical position to hold, without standards there would be no Internet as we've all come to know and love it. Without standards you wouldn't be able to take your car to any auto shop and have parts replaced, you'll have to take it to the original manufacturer and if you're unlucky the parts in your manufacturer's inventory wouldn't be suited for your car because the manufacturing process itself isn't standardized. To state succinctly, standards make our modern world go around.
The normal approach to solving this browser problem has been to promote the adoption of specific products such as Firefox by directly targeting users, but like any other problem, the problem of non-standards compliant browser usage must be tackled from its source, that source is the web developer who writes IE-accommodating code. While I have my preference for which standard compliant browser is better, I will not promote any particular product here, as far as I am concerned, any standards compliant browser would suffice. In other words, anything but IE. Some people would argue that no browser is 100% standards compliant, that may be the case but any developer who has done cross browser testing knows that the difference between standard compliance in browsers such as Firefox/Opera and IE is equivalent to night and day.
What I am advocating is simple, developers, webmasters and website owners, you can help make the Internet better by simply removing your “IE Hacks” and have your sites run using their essential HTML,Javascript and CSS codes. Direct your IE users to download one of the myriad of FREE standards compliant browsers.
You wouldn't jump over a bridge just because everyone is doing it, why do the technical equivalent by promoting IE because everyone is doing it. PLEASE, remove IE accommodating code and direct your users to get a better/modern web browser. I understand the possible business implications for such a move, but if a user really finds you site useful I am sure they will spend the 5 minutes needed to change their web browser. If most websites take this stance, the Internet would be free of IE malignancy in less than 6 months, this is not a radical suggestion it is the right thing to do.