Re: [PLUG] interesting experiment

[Adam Turoff <ziggy@panix.com>]

On Wed, Dec 12, 2001 at 01:10:14PM -0500, William Shank wrote:
> using konqueror (i'm using kde2.2.2, but i don't know how much it matters)
> go to http://www.msnbc.com and observe the formatting. Now, under the tools
> menu, select Change Broswer Identification --> IE 5.5 on Windows 2000.
> reobserver the formatting. notice anything? 
> 
> what do you think is causing this discrepency? i'm certain the rendering
> engine isn't changed to be more compatible with IE based html. So does this
> mean that konqueror handles IE html better than other html? is the site
> sending crappy html to non-ie browsers on purpose? is this poor quality
> assurance? is there a conspiracy?

First, you're going to a Microsoft site.  Conspiracy theories abound, so
it pays to at least be suspicious.

Second, lots of HTML developers do browser-guessing and send browsers
to what *they* think is the best version of a web page for that browser.

Third, Microsoft recently had an issue with MSN or some other web property
where they browser-detected and didn't show any content for non-IE browsers,
recommending an "upgrade" to some version of IE.  Switching NS6 to IE4 
got around that message IIRC, so that "downgrading" to IE was sufficient
(or so said the discussion on slashdot).  My memory is pretty fuzzy on this
instance, it was a few months ago, and rather irrelevant.

That said, I wouldn't say there's a conspiracy, unless you think
microsoft sites displaying better for "microsoft browsers" constitutes
a conspiracy.  :-)

Z.


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