Six Browsers You Don't Need (but Can't Avoid)
It's always the same ... you create a neat web design with clean html and CSS and it looks just the way it should, then you test it on Browsershots and realise that it looks absolutely perfect except (and without any exception) in all versions of Internet Explorer prior to IE7. I wish I would not have to burn my lifetime with these kind of problems – even a grey, cold and rainy Monday in November is more fun than to find workarounds for Internet Explorer.
Even though Browsershots is probably the best free service available for cross browser webdesign it does not help much to actually work on a CSS file and check it in real time. Fortunately I found a multiple IE installer that installs IE3, IE 4.01, IE 5.01, IE 5.55 and IE 6.0. You still need a Windows PC, but it's probably a good solution for a lot of web developers/designers.
I really don't like IE hacking, but from my experience it works best to make a clean html/css template that works well in all other browsers plus IE7 and then apply a conditional IE style sheet or make a few adjustments in the original CSS file if it requires just a minor tweak.
While I really would not bother too much with anything below IE5 (especially if it's a pure CSS design) I now still have six browsers installed that I don't need and IE8 is on it's way – I wonder if Microsoft will ever bite the bullet and go with the standards it so successfully ignored for more than two decades.
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