Re: web browser capability?

[Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- jci -dot- com]

>where can I obtain information on what browsers people are using? For
>example, how many people (or a percentage) use internet explorer 4 or 5?
How
>many are using lesser browsers?

You mean there *are* lesser browsers? And here I thought Internet Exploiter
was the bottom of the heap! ;{>}

>What issues are there in regards to browsers?

How much time  you have? ;{>}

> Can all of them read smart quotes, em dashes?

Don't count on it. Some read them, but in completely different ways.

First off, at the usual web body text character size, I'm generally hard
pressed to see if the quotes are curly or straight. I doubt seriously I'm a
lone ranger in this, either.

The web is a different medium than print, unless you've been setting up
your documents to print on a Panasonic KX-1091 dot matrix printer. Nice
typographical touches generally don't make it to the web at all, those that
do generally come with mixed blessings.

> Where would I find this type of information?

Run a page through Bobby: http://www.cast.org/bobby/

That will give you an idea of some of the things you're up against.

http://www.dataweb.nl/~otto/chars.html will show you how the standard
character set will look on your browser. Try it with different browsers and
different platforms and watch the characters change.

If your eyes haven't glazed over yet, stop in at
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/sgml/entities.html for a discussion of HTML
4.0 character entities.

The bottom line is: test It. Luckily, most of the browsers are free, so go
grab one and check out what your page looks like. Just don't have any sharp
implements nearby when you do. The world of print in relatively safe and
predictable; forget all about that when you start building for the web. I
don't know if there's anything at all that can be counted on to look the
same from one browser to another.

Stay loose and watch your back; the web is like water -- the tighter you
squeeze the more of it will slip through your fingers.



Have fun,
Arlen
Chief Managing Director In Charge, Department of Redundancy Department
DNRC 224

Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- Com
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