Later this year, with the release of version 4.8, WordPress is officially ending support for Internet Explorer (IE) versions 8, 9, and 10.
This is not as draconian as it sounds. Microsoft, the creator of IE, officially discontinued supporting these browsers in January 2016.
IE had for some time, been lagging behind in keeping up with advancing web standards and had been the bane of web developers, requiring us to insert special code snippets to make sure our sites worked properly in these antiquated browsers.
There is still IE 11 however, which was a significant improvement, but it’s days are numbered too.
In 2015 Microsoft saw the writing on the wall and developed their new default browser, Microsoft Edge, which plays much better with the new web technologies. It’s first public release was in July 2015.
Many people still running these old browsers are probably stuck with them due to circumstances beyond their control, like being at a library or other public facility. But wherever possible, users should be running the latest browser version to take full advantage of what the web has to offer.
There are a number of other browsers to choose from too.
So far in 2017, browser usage in the US breaks down like this:
- Google Chrome: 55.39%
- Firefox: 12.59%
- IE 11: 12.66%
- Safari: 8.01%
- Edge: 5.74%
(Source: http://gs.statcounter.com/)
To keep your browser up-to-date and keep your computer safe, check out Browse Happy for the latest versions of most major browsers.
This post courtesy of Web Developer Kerry Wolfe.