obsolete browsers are not supported…

…but not shut out either

If you are using an older, or a minor/​unusual, browser version, chances are that quite a few things don't look right on pages across this site.
In really, really, old or odd browsers things may look really, really, odd, and may make you wonder what's going on.

Regardless of browser, you should not have any real problems around here. Makes sense to use one of the “latest and greatest” browsers for optimal access and experience though.

optimized support for…

Vivaldi 6.2+… (baseline at gunlaug.com)
ver: Vivaldi 6.2.3105.48/ Chromium/ ≆ Chrome 116.0 – bugs: 11 16 17
Article: the Vivaldi browser

Internet Explorer 11…
Trident – bugs: 3 6 8 9 10 12 13

Firefox 81.0+… (RETESTED 2021 - ver: 84.0)
Gecko


Seamonkey 2.53.4+…
Gecko/ Fx60

Google Chrome 43+… (RETESTED 2021 - ver: 88.0)
Chromium – bugs: 11 16 weak: 6

Microsoft Edge 85.0+… (RETESTED 2021 - ver: 88.0)
Chromium – bugs: 11 16
(Ms Edge "Legacy" ignored)

Lynx 2.8.6+…
(also tested: 2.8.7 & 2.8.8 )
(+ excellent test-tool)

remarks:

1. Tests before 23.jun.2016 made on: Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bits OS, 4GB RAM, Intel® CORE™ 2.20GHz.
2. Tests from 23.jun.2016 onwards made on: Windows 10, 64-bits OS, 4GB RAM, Intel® CORE™ 2.20GHz.
3. Tests from 01.aug.2017 also made on: Windows 10, 64-bits OS, 8GB RAM, Intel® CORE™ i5-7300HQ 2.50GHz.
4. “optimized support” = optimal use of browser's own capabilities, with­out vendor pre­fixes and/or work­arounds for mis­sing features.
   Older versions, and browsers that are dis­con­tinued or for the time being can not be tested, are, or will be, phased out and ignored.
5. My UPDATED “stars” grading is based entirely on how the indi­vi­dual browser renders a cross‐section of my pages, and other­wise how it behaves on this site. How same browser behaves on sites not under my control, is totally irre­le­vant here.
   Browsers are ranged from “barely accept­able (0.5 star)” to “very good (5 stars)”. Most obvious bugs and weak­nesses in a browser are marked with numbered links to descriptions.
   As of January 2021 my gradings are adjusted down to reflect obser­ved stag­na­tion across browser-land. Brow­sers have to improve, or they'll be drop­ping in grade.
6. Personal opinion markers…
   Green thumbs‐up marked : I find this browser particularly good in some respects.
   Pink thumbs‐down marked : I find this browser to cause more trouble than it is worth.
   Gold “N/A” marked : unable to find/test later/better versions. Probably discontinued.
7. Warning markers…
   Yellow warning sign marked : comes with unrequested software and/or unexpected and potentially disturbing behavior. More on the issue.
   Red warning sign marked : potentially malware infested installation software and/or browser. Recommend full clean‐up operation. More on the issue.
   Yellow/gray/red warning sign marked : acting strangely behind the scene. Under observation for reclassification. More on the issue.
8. Color overlays…
   (These overlays disappear on :hover / :active for full access to text and links.) A gray'ish overlay means I see no point in continuing testing of this parti­cular browser. A darker gray'ish overlay means the browser is dis­con­tinued. A red'ish overlay means I won't download this parti­cular browser or allow it to occupy space on my computers, for security or other valid reasons. Thus, it most likely won't be tested again, ever. As others may use these browsers, I keep them listed with my nota­tions from earlier tests.
9. Lynx, a text‐only browser, is of course graded entirely on its own merits, not against graphic browser standards. Same goes for the other text‐only browsers listed on this page.

limited support for old IE…

As of August 2016, support for IE8 and older, is dropped on this site. All style­sheets for them are dis­con­nected.

All browsers relying on these old Trident engines are then of course also “lost”, and they will render unstyled pages on this site. The “break-point” for getting access to style­sheets goes with @mediaquery support, which IE8 and older don't have.

Style­sheets cor­rect­ing ren­der­ing in IE9, IE10 and IE11 will stay con­nec­ted a little while longer, but they will not be updated along­side the regular style­sheets.

relevant info

• Desktop Browser Version Market Share
• Microsoft will bid farewell to Internet Explorer and legacy Edge in 2021

performing quality checks

I got to know how browsers are doing, and how my HTML, CSS and scripts are treated across the board. Good practices matter as much now as they ever did, making more or less frequent cross browser testing a neces­sary routine.

The major browsers, and quite a few minor variants, are sharing space on harddisks and screens on my PCs. This is so I can keep track of how well they all work on today's web, and on my sites.

All available browser versions are run through a growing series of tests consisting of complex combi­na­tions of design techniques I do or intend to use. I don't try to avoid problems with browsers in web design, instead I provoke browsers so I can find solu­tions to more serious deviations.

In addition to dedicated test pages on other sites, a number of regular pages on this site are used for browser testing.

This very page is for instance full of “super­fluous” elements, floated and posi­ti­oned using a mix of methods, that can be mani­pu­lated further to make them stand out in context.
This way I can check line-up in browsers, and compare details to references as part of my browser grading.

After that I check up if what looks like browser bugs really are browser bugs, and if so if it is time to add them to my little bug list. Not as many really trouble­some bugs in today's browsers as in those we used a decade ago, but one can never be sure.

All this to determine what can be made to work in new browser versions, and at what point it makes sense to ditch active support for older versions in order to make the most out of new arrivals.

we keep on testing

I have done testing of major and minor browsers' rendering and behavior related to my sites, for a long time, which can be seen by glancing at the archaic browser support listing on the much older sister-site.

Many of the alter­na­tive browsers listed here today, are the same as were checked up on a decade ago. Some alter­na­tive browsers haven't been improved on much in that time-span, and some are “quite dead”.

Most major browsers from a decade ago, are still with us today – although some in name only, and some have actu­ally been improved on over the years. Good thing that, as my interest in active hacking to fix weak and buggy browsers, has dimin­ished substan­tially over the years. It was fun once, but…

These days I prefer to ignore browsers that can't keep up, and focus on those that do well. Life as web designer/​developer gets so much easier that way.

I have already stres­sed my design well beyond breaking point in every way pos­sible in major browsers, and have no problems with how it behaves. Content is acces­sible even when design looks seriously broken, and that is what really matters as far as I'm concerned.

sincerely 

Weeki Wachee 04.may.2012
last rev: 17.sep.2023