About Web Browsers

— And Smart Devices —

Web Browsers:

All current major web browsers work with my web pages, but IceDragon and Firefox display my pages at their very best.

Sorry, but if you are using a versions of Internet Explorer older than version 11, you would be better off using one of the browsers listed above.

I did not list Internet Explorer 11, or Microsoft Edge, because they both come, by default, with Windows 10.

Internet Explorer 11 works fine with my pages.

Microsoft Edge does have a slight issue with at least one page element, on at least one of my pages, but otherwise seems to be a good enough web browser.

Smart Devices:

I tried to keep small screens in mind when designing this latest version of this site, but this site is still best viewed with a full desktop PC, or Mac, computer. A laptop computer is a second best option.

I have never seen a smartphone or tablet that can display my pages as well as a full PC web browser. But then, I have no way of testing how my pages look on all of the many types of tablets and smartphones out there today. I do know that the Kindle Fire HDX 7 Silk browser is far from desirable for viewing my pages. Even an older version of Apple’s iOS Safari is better, although still less than desirable.

Smartphones and tablets are handy tools, I definitely like having them around, but I would not want those small devices to be my only way of getting online, or viewing my pages. Those small browsers are just not good enough yet.

In the future, I will strive to design separate page styles that look better on small screens. However, I refuse to dumb down my main page styles to make them look better on smartphones and tablets, but sacrifice on the quality of the full PC experience, as so many web sites have done lately. There is not much that is more irritating to a PC user than going to a site that is designed for small screens only.

I do not abide by the “smartphones first” philosophy for web design, and I never will.

That said, I know that there are ways to design separate page styles that work better for small devices, and I will look into that.

As for high-end tablets and larger smart devices, like the Surface Pro and Smart TVs, I have not had a chance to see how my web sites look on those yet.

Michael A. Crane, Jr.
Artist/Webmaster/Writer