Warning: this post is of a mildly techno-nerd nature. If you do not enjoy reading such material, read it anyway. It’s probably aimed at you.

I have generally been fairly neutral in the browser wars. If you want to use Opera, that’s your business. Camino? Go for it. Internet Explorer? No one is stopping you. It has just been over the last few months that I’ve started to take sides. I have been in the process of redesigning my my wife’s site (not quite done yet) as well as a new museum’s site. As a result I have learned to hate Internet Explorer with a white-hot hostility that is engulfing my entire life.

It’s not that Microsoft ceased development on IE for Macs. I was fine with that. Macs have Safari, PCs have IE. To each its own. It’s not that Microsoft is a soulless corporate giant that is cornering the market. That’s a tired (if not true) argument. It’s that Internet Explorer is the worst browser on the planet. Yes, I even place it under the feet of Opera. It’s that bad.

As I have worked on these two sites (while maintaining four others) every single problem I have encountered using CSS, XHTML, and JavaScript has been in Internet Explorer. My wife’s site would have launched over a month ago if it were’t for Explorer. It can’t handle absolutely positioned elements correctly, it has no idea what to do with basic CSS, and I think I saw it push a small, cooing baby in front of a moving bus. It’s bad to the bone.

At last there is someone putting money where their mouth is: Explorer Destroyer.

Google is paying $1 for each new Firefox user you refer.

This is pretty amazing. Now you can advance your ideals, save people from popups and spyware hell, and make some serious money. Millions of people have heard about Firefox and are ready to switch—all they need is a friendly push.

That’s where these scripts come in. They’re specially formulated to give just the right push, maximizing souls-saved and dollars-for-you.

Honestly, folks. I don’t expect you sign up for Google Ads so you can make a buck getting people to switch teams. My point is that the only reason Internet Explorer is so ubiquitous is becuase every PC on this big blue marble ships with it, not because it is a good program. Your grandmother uses Internet Explorer because she doesn’t know any better. You do! Go put something else on her computer, for Pete’s sake! Be a good Samaritan and show your friend how to install Firefox. Use something, anything, but Internet Explorer. I’m getting really tired of designing around Internet Explorer’s shortcomings, but I feel obligated to when over 50% of our sites visitors are using it. Why are you 50%+ doing this to us? Please switch browsers! Now! If you don’t do it for me, at least do it for the babies.

Thank you, and have a good day.

Other Browsers That Are Good Because Microsoft Does Not Make Them:

• Firefox
• Mozilla
• Opera
• Camino (Macs only)