How is IE8 even usable? | The Coffeehouse

intelman

Should not "white out the screen" and cause Windows to want to end a non responsive process. If possible, there whould be a way to detect that this script will hang IE and display the option of stopping the script before it causes a hang situation.

That of course will not fix the issue of having an additional dialogue to address, but it will at least make the browser slightly more usable.

vesuvius
Das Glasperlenspiel

In reply to intelman

#Aug 10th @ 10:40 AM

This is exactly what Microsoft decided to do with UAC on Windows 7 and the end result is people are less safe, unless they auto elevate. this clearly is a case of perception - see Long's posts.

Personally if I'm on a site that exposes a security hole on my PC by running bad scripts, then I'm glad IE8 tells me so. IE7 and all the other browsers you've mentioned don't

I may well end up that the world complains and IE 9 (or IE8 is updated), but that would be like the whole UAC debacle. And here's me thinking Chanel 9 was full of forward thinking, cutting edge people that can read a little deeper into why something works the way it does.

As it is, this post should have ended with Webbo

This isn't an IE issue, just the sites you're using haven't done their scripts correctly

Ubuntu

In reply to vesuvius

#Aug 10th @ 1:07 PM

This isn't an IE issue, just the sites you're using haven't done their scripts correctly

It's not a bug - it's a feature.

LeoDavidson

In reply to intelman

#Aug 10th @ 1:04 PM

If possible, there whould be a way to detect that this script will hang IE and display the option of stopping the script before it causes a hang situation.

Not possible in general: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halting_problem

When a script goes wrong it could be handled better, for sure, but is it worth improving the user experience of something which should be an exception and can be avoided by not going to sites that are so badly made (assuming it's not due to a bug in IE rather than the sites)? I guess so if it happens a lot on popular sites but it's hard to say for sure without knowing more about why it's appearing.

intelman

In reply to LeoDavidson

#Aug 10th @ 1:29 PM

"When a script goes wrong it could be handled better, for sure..."

That is really my point. IE is in a pretty major transition from non standards state to a more strict rendering mode. IE updates seem to cause lots of trouble due to its popularity and this transition.

I get consolation in that the IE team probably uses IE. They have to run into a lot of the same quirks and problems we all do. They probably want to fix problems just as much as we want them fixed.

This thread is also more of a word of warning. I know quite a few of my "non techy computer user friends" have switched to other browsers because they feel they are less verbose, annoying and "laggy". No yellow bars blocking downloads, no "do you want to display unsecure content"...etc. Some of that is configurable of course, but utimately no one cares. Going forward, I think it will be very hard for IE to compete if problems (rightfully or wrongly) occur with IE.

intelman

In reply to LeoDavidson

#Aug 10th @ 1:29 PM

"When a script goes wrong it could be handled better, for sure..."

That is really my point. IE is in a pretty major transition from non standards state to a more strict rendering mode. IE updates seem to cause lots of trouble due to its popularity and this transition.

I get consolation in that the IE team probably uses IE. They have to run into a lot of the same quirks and problems we all do. They probably want to fix problems just as much as we want them fixed.

stevo_
Human after all

In reply to Ubuntu

#Aug 10th @ 12:14 PM

The only time you'll get this message is when the thread is run away.. not a long running task.. of course I wouldn't expect you to actually understand any technical details.

Ubuntu

In reply to stevo_

#Aug 10th @ 2:20 PM

Is your @$$ already soar?

PerfectPhase
"This is not war, this is pest control!" - Dalek to Cyberman

In reply to intelman

#Aug 10th @ 2:11 PM

This is a really old feature http://support.microsoft.com/kb/175500/

Might be worth checking HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\InternetExplorer\Styles\MaxScriptStatements and check that the default hasn't been changed from 5,000,000.

If not just increase the number till the prompts go away, assuming its not an infinite loop.

RLO

Intelman, I ran into the same problems with ie7 on the Gawker sites as well, to the point of having to open up a command prompt and executing taskkill /im iexplorer.exe /f to get free from the javascript locks.

It disturbs me to see this behavior in these sites, because in the end it tells me that the developers are not coding to customers, but to their own whims/religion.

From a business perspective, I would expect that every web developer I had on my team would test and retest every site I had according to my customers. If I wanted to neglect half the web, and code sites that would cause this reaction, I would basically be turning one out of every two customers I had away from my door. Personally, I would want 99% of my customers coming into my door, and not putting up barriers.

The developers for these sites, are not using IE which is showing how far behind IE is. That being said, to code a site, and not test it in every major browser is sheer arrogance. Gawker should be ashamed of itself for discriminating on the web, but that's their choice. If they want to put religion ahead of money sense, that's their choice as well. For my choice, their content is not enought to force me to install another browser, when I can easily find their content from somewhere else.

It's strange to see the tail wagging the dog in this modern age.

vesuvius
Das Glasperlenspiel

In reply to intelman

#Aug 10th @ 2:09 PM

That "word of warning" is exactly why user account control in Windows 7 is broken. We all would like a far much more restrictive and safer setting, but it is the non-techies that have complained about annoying pop-ups, the screen going black etc. just like you are about IE8 appearing to freeze.

When you take into account just how much slower your machine will run overall using anti-virus and spyware just so you can have lower UAC and a crappy browser like Chrome/Firefox security wise, those in the know are really in the minority.