[mapguide-internals] Re: OpenLayers + SVG = MapGuide Vector Viewer

[Dave Wilson]

Actually IE6 is not included in the pretending :)

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2008/08/27/introducing-compatibility-view.aspx

Basically it allows IE8 to pretend to be IE7.

Sadly given the nature of security issues today it's not reasonable to expect support for IE6. Unfortunately that means there is a lot of code out there that needs updating. It requires a lot of engineering to support 5 common browsers (Opera, Chrome, Safari, IE and Firefox) and their legacy versions. Trying QA'ing 9 or 10 browser versions...that doesn't even include the code required to handle all the cases as generally one set of code does not behave the same in all browsers. It's not just a little bit of extra engineering effort. Given the time frame MG is developed in Enterprise vs OS you can't fault either side for having to cut things off. If we just "engineered it a little bit more" each time we'd never deliver anything.

Old users will still have AJAX, but if you want the cool new stuff you have to upgrade. Consider online banking. If you don't use the browser the bank dictates you don't get to log on. It's that simple. Upgrading is a way of life. Unfortunately the history of browsers and html standards has created a large gap with IE6 that people and governments will have to deal with.

Conceptually I like Trevor's breakdown in terms of supporting what you can given the browser version, but if customers want your service they will have to use what you dictate. Hopefully you don't do major upheavals like this often. The move to MGE was a big one after how many years? The deprecation of DWF was sad, but given it's platform specific and was another free tool that required a significant amount of resources to produce you can't fault Autodesk for cutting back in hard times just like everyone else. The fact you can even get MGOS is still huge.

Just another point of view.
Regards,
Dave

-----Original Message-----
From: mapguide-internals-bounces at lists.osgeo.org [mailto:mapguide-internals-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Trevor Wekel
Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2010 10:27 AM
To: MapGuide Internals Mail List
Subject: RE: [mapguide-internals] Re: OpenLayers + SVG = MapGuide Vector Viewer

Does anyone have any experience with the effectiveness of "Compatibility Mode" in Internet Explorer?

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/cc288325.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/ff468705.aspx

If it actually works then IE 7/8/9 can pretend to be IE6.  A <!DOCTYPE> tag tells IE how to process the page.  This would provide some browser upgrade freedom for clients locked into legacy web applications.

This does assume that a client would be willing to get off of XP and get onto Windows 7 (and IE9).  if a client has a large suite of desktop applications deployed on XP, hmm... well... that's a totally different kettle of (stinky) fish.


Regards,
Trevor


-----Original Message-----
From: mapguide-internals-bounces at lists.osgeo.org [mailto:mapguide-internals-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Jason Birch
Sent: September 16, 2010 2:17 AM
To: MapGuide Internals Mail List
Subject: Re: [mapguide-internals] Re: OpenLayers + SVG = MapGuide Vector Viewer

I have to disagree.  Many of us live in a reality where we don't get to choose who accesses our sites or the tools they use.  It's absolutely easier to make clean breaks, start fresh, etc, but it's a disservice to our users.
 It doesn't take a lot of extra engineering effort to save countless integrators time and headaches in having to author and support multiple sites (or one old slow site or, more likely moving to a different technology).

IMO :)


On 15 September 2010 17:14, Traian Stanev wrote:

>
> Yeah, no reason to hamper progress of all platforms because of one 
> inferior platform.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:Jackie Ng
>
> I've said it before in the past and I'll say it again:
>
> People who choose to live in the past (whether by choice or not) can 
> stick with the basic AJAX viewer.
>
>
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