OK we all know that everyone should be on the latest browser and backward compatability is a pain for web developers but is it really necessary to fill half my secren of stick a floating popup telling me to install Firefox/Chrome/etc? I am working at a loarge instituution and rolling out a new browser means retesting a vast number of internal web applications so they can't just update the browser at the drop of a hat. Currently we are on IE8 and I get these bloody annoying popups I have to bad away to use some sites. I can't change mybrowser here and yes I'm sure they will roll out IE9 in due course but these silly popups won't make it any faster. Give us a break and stop preaching. Most of those that don't update their browser either can't do it or have no idea what you're on about.
You know whats annoying? The popups asking me if its OK to use cookies, because of this new damn law. Apparently its supposed to stop the spread of spyware or some ****. Surely the people who want to spread spyware aren't going to be adhering to these laws anyway?
For me the use of cookies is an bane sometimes. Especially when you have tracking/marketing companies being sold the rights to websites cookies for targeted advertising, a picture to illustrate. And this is just bit-tech alone. However I do understand the gripe with op's post.
Did you know you can disable auto-update in Firefox, so it doesn't bug you? I know most IT are too lazy to uncheck that box, but it doesn't mean you can't disable it. When I prepare the image and mandatory student account, and teacher accounts, I made sure that when the system logs on, or you open wtv, you don't have a bigillion pop-ups about updates and what not. I am the only person who cares? [/rant] Anyway, Firefox Option panel: You can also uninstall (or not install it in the first place) Firefox Maintenance service.
Similar to what you say I use a few Firefox extensions like the "All-in-one sidebar" and "Roboform toolbar" and when a big Firefox update happens especially when it's a new version the old extensions often won't work and you have to wait until the extension developers update their software. The "All-in-one sidebar" and "Roboform toolbar" make using the internet so much easier and hugely reduce the amount of mouse clicks you have to do, I can open the browser and be reading emails by just hitting one key and one mouse click and that includes using an encrypted email password, not having these two extensions until there updated because of another Firefox update is a huge pain in the ass
Mostly it's those of us that work at large corporations that have to deal with these annoynaces. Those that are still stuck on IE8 or even worse IE6 due to their improperly coded internal intranet sites, that will break on newer browser version. If only they would stop hiring bad coders... no more outdated browsers. Ability to use Firefox or Chrome for general non work internet use... in a big corporate setting, quite rare.
The problem is less pronounced in browsers such as Chrome, Firefox or Opera, but in IE every version has different compatibility problems. For example IE6 was just crazy, not supporting certain things and having weird quirks that meant a web developer literally needs to rewrite the website just to support it. This holds true with the newer versions of IE as well. HTML5 and CSS3 (the stable 'core' parts of which are supported fully by Firefox, Chrome and Opera) is barely supported even by IE9. I am sure that support will improve by IE10, but by the time HTML5 and CSS3 becomes a fully stable standard, most people using IE will be using a previous version. Thus websites, which are fully complaint, will break. As the other browsers already support a large part of the draft specifications, when it is finally released, even the older browsers will have support of some kind. Unfortunately Microsoft are notorious for not supporting new technologies properly. I understand their reasoning behind it, that draft standards can change at a moments notice, but as we near the completion of the standard the core parts are pretty much stable and finished. Besides, all the other major browsers support this core, so why can't IE? It is for this lack of support for new technologies, and the bad adhering to standards (above), that I strongly recommend everybody, be that big corporations or individual people, to use a proper browser. I define a proper browser as: Firefox, Chrome, Opera, or at least not IE.
Or worse than just intranet sites, some of us simply can't install applications on our work PCs and have IT departments that won't say the magic words and update our machines until absolutely necessary (Rockin' IE7, Office 2007, AutoCAD 2006... old skool). I'd love to use a different browser, Mr. Nagging Website! Unfortunately, I can't so please stop acting like I'm some geriatric who picked up his PC for $300 at Best Buy and doesn't understand how to update software or install other browsers.
