Consulting Journal: Trends - The death of IE

Trends: The death of IE

by David Blakey

If Internet Explorer is killed off, will it be by the least likely suspect?

[Monday 31 May 2004]

There is an argument that Microsoft's Internal Explorer (IE) will decline. Because of the vulnerabilities that are continually being exposed in IE, many users will switch to other browsers that do not require the same level of support. While this argument may be true, I believe that IE will decline for other reasons. Let me illustrate.

My example

When I write an article for the Consulting Journal, I use current HTML and CSS specifications. So, for a quotation, I use the q element. Here is an example of what I might write.

I said, <q>I don't know what <q>compliance</q> means</q>.

This contains a quotation within a quotation. My standard stylesheet contains the following lines.

q {quotes: "\2018" "\2019" "\201C" "\201D"}
q:before {content:open-quote;}
q:after {content:close-quote;}

So, for my HTML and CSS, a browser that is compliant with the specifications should render my line of text with a single open-quote character ‘ before I don't know what, then a double open-quote character “ before compliance, and appropriate closing characters after each q element.

If you are using a browser that is compliant with current specifications for HTML and CSS, and your language is English, that text will look like this.

I said, ‘I don't know what “compliance” means’.

That is how it will appear if your browser is Opera. With a browser that has not yet achieved full compliance, the text may look like this.

I said, ‘I don't know what ‘compliance’ means’.

That is how it appears in Mozilla Firefox 0.9.1., but the people at Mozilla are working on it. The text would appear in Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6.0.2800.1106 as

I said, I don't know what compliance means.

IE does not implement styling for the q element using the specification for HTML and CSS.

(IE users actually see the quotation as I don't know what compliance means, but this is because I have included a style specifically for IE that changes text within a q element so that it is italic and bold.)

The usual argument

The usual argument against the future of IE is based upon a series of vulnerabilities that have been detected and sometimes exploited maliciously. It is argued that commercial users will increasingly turn from IE to a more secure browser.

I believe that IE has an uncertain future, but not for that reason.

It is certainly widely believed that IE has been poorly coded and poorly tested. These claims may be true. Any computer code has errors and omissions. It is because of its popularity that IE has been targeted for attacks. If IE declined in popularity below, say, Firefox, then attackers would look for vulnerabilities in Firefox with the same avidity as they look for them now in IE. It may be that they would find fewer of them, but they would find some.

I also agree that it may be easier for Mozilla to fix Firefox that it appears to be for Microsoft to fix IE. This might make the impact of attacks more short-lived and less likely to be repeated. But it would not stop attacks from occurring.

It has yet to be proved to my satisfaction that large users will replace IE.

My argument

My argument for the decline of IE is that Microsoft has lost interest in it. When IE was competing to oust Netscape Navigator, Microsoft moved IE into closer compliance with the specifications of the time. Since becoming the most common browser, few changes have been made to IE to keep it in line with changing HTML (or, more correctly, XHTML) and CSS specifications. It looks to me as if Microsoft has lost interest in it.

It may be that Microsoft is tired of supporting it and continually issuing patches. This involves an enormous cost to Microsoft.

Also, a few years ago, IE was an essential part of the Web server that Microsoft was developing. But Microsoft's current line of Web servers do not depend on having a browser within the product line. And the Web servers produce sales revenue, which IE does not.

Unless IE has a major new version, compliant with current specifications, by the end of 2004, I shall remain convinced that it is being allowed to decline.

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