Check your website works in Internet Explorer 8 (aka IE8)

Would you be worried if 33% of potential customers could not see your website? Not all websites display in all browsers and the problem is about to get a lot worse.

What is the problem? 

Microsoft, to its credit, has made its new browser work to agreed standards. Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) did not implement web page standards correctly and a  lot  of "hacks" were used by web designers to get round this. IE8 does not support the IE6 hacks and a lot of websites that work with IE6 and IE7 will simply "break". 

Things will not be displayed correctly- maybe not displayed at all - that work perfectly well in IE6 and IE7. These websites will have to be repaired before IE8 is launched later this year. At present there are over 2000 high profile wesbites such as CNN, eBay and Facebook.

What can you do?

You need to do two things. First, check your website works in IE8 using something like BrowserShots. Second, if it is broke you need to get it fixed by talking to your web designer. If they are no help then give us a call on 0161 776 4601 or email us at enquiries@gembiz.co.uk

When will this happen?

The exact date is yet to be firmed up but the initial releases could be as early as March 2009 with the Microsoft update service updating people's PCs over the next few months. By autumn 2009 a significant number of people will be using IE8