The first problem concerning browsers masquerading as MSIE is valid but completely out of a developer’s control. I agree with Peter that most users will use whatever comes with his/her computer. Having worked on many large-scale sites, support for IE is always the #1 concern, with Firefox #2 and Mac browsers (Safari and Firefox) coming at #3. The others simply need to work not necessarily display properly. This is a necessary compromise for small-share browsers. It is not cost-effective to tweak for Opera when so few people use it. Thus if browser makers want to ‘fool’ us, they should be held responsible for displaying pages properly for that User-Agent.

As for the second problem, what is the problem? Common browser “feature” detection arguments just don’t apply here. These types of CSS adjustments are targeted for specific browsers. Usually older ones that don’t fully support CSS. If Opera 9 and Opera 10 display differently then you should have a rule for each. A good developer must be aware of new browsers and assure that the pages display properly. Many companies now are scrambling to adjust pages for IE7 and dealing with their own maintenance nightmares.

I believe the words of caution in this article are designed to dissuade quick hacks – simply using this script instead of working to solve the problem. A script like this would be best to supplement CSS rules to fix common problems like float clearing. I agree that using it to adjust the right margin for one class on one page and another one on another page could lead to monumental problems. However, being smart about CSS coding to avoiding common pitfalls is the best approach while using the script to simply make some global adjustments. The number of problems with CSS in modern browsers is finite and manageable. What might be a nightmare for one person or organization may not always be for another? Too many developers are way too accomodating. If Opera wants to change their CSS interpretation or act like it is Lynx or whatever else they change from release to release, I’m not going to be there to dissect it and rush to adjust my codebase.

Why is there not more criticism of these browsers? Probably because so few people have actually used them. I love an underdog and hate Microsoft too, but come on!

http://www.quirksmode.org/js/support.html

But looking at the current situation where everything has become stabilised and users have been divided into groups either belonging to MSIE, Mozilla, Opera, etc. As is it possible as of now for the vendors to adhere to some standardised specifications. But that would be more aggravatign the problem as the older applications would become useless if at all the object model would have to be changed.

Can there be a solution for this?

For example, many people are stuck using IE6 without choice. Perhaps it’s because of their institution’s software policy, which may prevent installation of other browsers. Now before someone chimes in with “Portable Firefox”, remember that sometimes people just don’t want to break the AUP on their institution’s computers.

But the bigger problem is the mainstream user who will never care what browser they use and will always use the default that came with Windows. Being in the tech world, it’s easy to forget about the “average” user and quickly develop an attitude of “why would anyone use IE?”. This is a bad idea to develop – it implies a misunderstanding of the average user and their needs. The fact remains that when designing a corporate website (or any website designed for the masses), cross browser compatibility is an important aspect.

I’m not pro-browser sniffing (I think it’s a bad idea as per PPK’s reasons), but the extra work may be necessary in some cases.