Who's to blame?
OK... let's lay out the facts: User has a company policy using IE8. Same company has an internal web site using Microsoft web server and MS-SQL backend. This is all fine, as I see it, since it would all fit together as all components are delivered from the same source. And here comes the ridiculous part: It's a clash. In order to display a page it can take up to 20 minutes, yes MINUTES, before you can start working.
My opinion is that if it takes more than 5 seconds before a web page is completely downloaded and displayed there is something wrong with some part of the design. If it is the web design, or the the engine itself, or the backend DB is unimportant, what happens is the user gets out of focus and uninterested, if not straight out frustrated. And if this is a site where you need to attend a lot at times there will be annoyance to say the least.
So, let's call the IT helpdesk, which happens to be in another country where these things are a bit cheaper than Europe. Person on the other end is very helpful and offers to help out in various ways, which in the end fucks IE8 up totally, and you get the comment: "Oh dear, something is really wrong, you need to call someone to help you out". And, well... I actually thought I was doing just that... So the next suggestion is to call the local support (who should be in by now, I start working early) since they are closer to you, have access to your computer, and so are prone to better solve your problem (and so I wonder what we are paying these other guys anything at all, since they got access to my computer too).
Computer guys - where are you? Let's just say the TV show "IT Crowd" is not far from ours, only "IT Crowd" seems to be based on ours, and the TV version has taken out the worst parts.
And the answer is: You need to downgrade to IE7. It is an IE problem.
And the IT department says: You need to use IE8 in order for getting support.
Same guys. None of them refuse to even reflect upon the fact that it takes up to 20 MINUTES to refresh the page?
OK. These are not the programmers of the web page scripts (which call the DB) but the same company.
I could go on and on and on about this. I have been helping out in audits and problem solving in numerous cases and it almost always (I could say 95% of times but I have no hard facts to present) boils down to:
- Talk to one another
- Don't be so bloody proud
- Ask questions
- Listen to the answers
- Don't be afraid to look outside your comfort zone
- Lessons to learned from helps you in the future
- Knowledge needs to be forwarded
All of this will get you through the day on an easier basis and make your life easier. I have not yet gotten the answer of the problem described above. But my opinion is that it is not an IE8 problem (since IE8 and IE[1-7] translates HTML differently). I've tried the code on Firefox 5.0.1 and it works as expected. Programmers need to understand that browsers, and browser versions, translate code in different ways, and so, if company policy is IE7 or 8, or both, their code has to work for both version, or at least the latest version, otherwise they have done wrong.
If this would have been on the Internet, other rules would apply. But the overall rule would be... Keep It Simple Stupid.
My opinion is that if it takes more than 5 seconds before a web page is completely downloaded and displayed there is something wrong with some part of the design. If it is the web design, or the the engine itself, or the backend DB is unimportant, what happens is the user gets out of focus and uninterested, if not straight out frustrated. And if this is a site where you need to attend a lot at times there will be annoyance to say the least.
So, let's call the IT helpdesk, which happens to be in another country where these things are a bit cheaper than Europe. Person on the other end is very helpful and offers to help out in various ways, which in the end fucks IE8 up totally, and you get the comment: "Oh dear, something is really wrong, you need to call someone to help you out". And, well... I actually thought I was doing just that... So the next suggestion is to call the local support (who should be in by now, I start working early) since they are closer to you, have access to your computer, and so are prone to better solve your problem (and so I wonder what we are paying these other guys anything at all, since they got access to my computer too).
Computer guys - where are you? Let's just say the TV show "IT Crowd" is not far from ours, only "IT Crowd" seems to be based on ours, and the TV version has taken out the worst parts.
And the answer is: You need to downgrade to IE7. It is an IE problem.
And the IT department says: You need to use IE8 in order for getting support.
Same guys. None of them refuse to even reflect upon the fact that it takes up to 20 MINUTES to refresh the page?
OK. These are not the programmers of the web page scripts (which call the DB) but the same company.
I could go on and on and on about this. I have been helping out in audits and problem solving in numerous cases and it almost always (I could say 95% of times but I have no hard facts to present) boils down to:
- Talk to one another
- Don't be so bloody proud
- Ask questions
- Listen to the answers
- Don't be afraid to look outside your comfort zone
- Lessons to learned from helps you in the future
- Knowledge needs to be forwarded
All of this will get you through the day on an easier basis and make your life easier. I have not yet gotten the answer of the problem described above. But my opinion is that it is not an IE8 problem (since IE8 and IE[1-7] translates HTML differently). I've tried the code on Firefox 5.0.1 and it works as expected. Programmers need to understand that browsers, and browser versions, translate code in different ways, and so, if company policy is IE7 or 8, or both, their code has to work for both version, or at least the latest version, otherwise they have done wrong.
If this would have been on the Internet, other rules would apply. But the overall rule would be... Keep It Simple Stupid.
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