On the 8th April 2014 Microsoft will officially drop support for Windows XP, and with it, drop support for the aging Internet Explorer 8 browser.
From this date we’ll also stop offering default support for IE8 in the new websites we produce here at Access.
The reason’s simple: Internet Explorer 8, which was released in 2009, lacks support for a wide range of CSS3 and HTML5 standards we’ve come to rely on for crafting modern web layouts and styles.
Until now, we’ve been forced to write additional code to patch over the cracks in IE8 and include additional JavaScript tools to simulate the behaviour of CSS media queries. Even so, it makes for clunky and faulty responsive websites in IE8 – so it really doesn’t make sense to carry on doing this.
So what can users of Windows XP/Internet Explorer 8 do?
- Upgrade your operating system (you’re using a museum piece)
- Do nothing and suffer an ever worsening web experience
Using another web browser?
- Great news, you’re helping us to use the shiny cool features of the modern web
- Internet Explorer 9+, Chrome, Firefox and Safari are all designed to automatically keep themselves updated to give you access to the latest web standards
More information
Not sure which browser you're using? www.whatsmybrowser.org
