It’s often said that not everything you read online is true. Normally, this statement refers to some uncredited personal site. A few years ago it was often hosted by Geocities, now the same skepticism is needed for Wikipedia. Users can still get valuable information on Wikipedia, but it’s important that it is referenced correctly and verified.
Today, I saw this link comparing Internet Explorer 8, Chrome & Firefox. This is fairly common to see them compared in regards to features, speed, web standards, etc. Well, this link was straight from Microsoft. Now, I’d expect this to have a marketing aspect to it, but this list is ridiculous. IE8 won every single thing, tying the other two browsers in Standards, Customizability & Performance.
In Web Standards, Microsoft says, “t’s a tie.” Really? I’d like to meet a web professional who really believes that. The Acid3 test is generally considered the best way to test web standards. Firefox 3.5 scores a 94 and I believe both Chrome and Safari are at 100. Internet Explorer 8 scores a 20. Guess what, if you multiply all those numbers by 0, IT’S A TIE!
In regards to Web Development, Microsoft claims, “Of course Internet Explorer 8 wins this one. ” Once again, I don’t know of many developers who don’t use Firebug for Firefox.
What about compatibility? Well, “Internet Explorer 8 is more compatible with more sites on the Internet than any other browser.” While this is true, it’s because of their huge market share, not because of any sort of inherent compatibility. In fact, IE8 has a prominent button that will display the page with IE7′s rendering. This is insane to me.
Normally from one version of Firefox to the next, the more recent versions can handle newer and more advanced CSS. The basic styling remains the same, but not with Internet Explorer. IE6, IE7 and IE8 can all render the same page differently. The compatibility button is like saying, “We are all over the board with standards, so if it looks broken, try it this way.”
In Reliability, IE8 wins with, “Only Internet Explorer 8 has both tab isolation and crash recovery features; Firefox and Chrome have one or the other.” I’m really glad the most reliable browser has a crash recovery feature, since it’s so… reliable. Brilliant!
Microsoft should just concentrate on comparing IE8 to IE6 & IE7. Get those users to upgrade and then they can state, “this browser is better” without having to write fiction to support that claim.
