I’m sure that most people couldn’t give the first semblance of a toss which web browser they use to connect to the interwebs. “Does it have a nice logo? I like the little foxy one, what’s it called again - is it Chrome?” modern luddites say clubbing the mouse with fist clenched like an ape discovering a tin opener for the first time. Like a toothpaste or cigarette brand, for many, a browser choice just comes down to an arbitrary decision which you then stick with due to familiarity rather than anything else. Maybe you use Safari because it came with your expensive Mac and it does the job okay, so you stick with it. Thereafter, without any tangible problems to speak of, to move elsewhere would make the digital world you frequent feel alien and slow. Sure, there are the brave and bold who have a finger in all the pies and enjoy all the advantages of the different systems - but hey, I’m checking the Luton Town scores on the BBC news site and Facebook, not flying to the moon.

I realise there are major technical differences and some are better than others blah blah, but I think for the average Joe or Jane browser choice remains in the ‘give a shit’ bucket until something goes wrong or doesn’t work as expected. At this point there’s a squilliion alternatives which are freely available, so it’s of no major concern - going from Firefox to Chrome is hardly like going from VHS to 4K after all.

When producing a website however, browser selection takes on a whole new realm of significance. Websites should communicate effectively on as many platforms as possible and to this end clever people got together and introduced web standards for developers and designers to use to ensure everyone was on the same page. The trouble was, everyone wasn’t on the same page; Darth Gates and his sinister Empire of digital kill-joys made sure that with the ubiquitous Internet Explorer software, they were always playing a game in a muddy, dog-shit laden field of their own, with a basketball being used as a football and you could only play if they let you. Bare Foot. Probably with a sign stapled to your head which reads ‘DUNCE’.

Here’s how the web design process often seemed to unfurl;

1. Design site

2. Bask in glory of site design. It really is a cracker.

3. Browser checks, then it’s off to the pub…

Check in Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, iPhone, iPad, Android, Netscape, BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum, Commodore, Digital Watch, My Hand – all look great so HUZZAH for me

Check in Internet Explorer - broken. Sigh.
Not just broken, but broken randomly in different ways across the versions checked.

4. Tweaking, Re-Testing, Changing, Re-Testing, Amending, Re-Testing on and on and on

With this in mind, I would very much like to bring to your attention an article from thenextweb.com found here: http://tiny.cc/hkjx7x which triumphantly declares that web developers can rejoice because Internet 8, 9 and 10 are set to die on Tuesday (today). This is because IE 8, 9 and 10 are no longer going to be supported by Microsoft and will go to the extent of patching said browsers with a reminder to upgrade to all. You probably don’t care that much - but for me, it’s time for celebration at a time of year when I thought all celebration was consigned to the back of the garage with the Christmas decorations. Ahhhhh, free at last, free at last - thank God Almighty, we are free at last.