More IE bashing

More organizations suggesting that you move away from Microsoft's Internet Explorer: The BBC and Microsoft.

What what?

Yeah, Microsoft is saying you shouldn't use their Internet Explorer. This isn't as crazy as you'd imagine. Microsoft owns MSN. MSN runs an online rag called Slate. Slate runs an article asking "Are the Browser Wars Back?", wherein the author extols the virtues of Firefox.

Therefore, Microsoft has paid someone to tell you to stop using IE. Take the hint. Switch to something else.

I salute some anonymous drone inside Microsoft for having the balls to run this story, since there's a good chance he won't be inside Microsoft for much longer. Still, to have the courage to tell others about the dangers of using Internet Explorer is always commendable no matter what the circumstances. It stirs great emotion inside me to see when a company makes a gesture, no matter how small, that sets aside its insatiable avarice, knocks the ceaseless roar of the engines of its heretical PR firm down a notch, and pursues something true and decent of the human condition. It's good: it lets me know that someone inside still has a soul.

It is a rare thing these days, and it is always a welcome sight. I'm sure everyone inside Microsoft wants IE to be an awesome browser. In a way, I do too. The first step to making it better is admitting, openly, that it has a problem. Then – and only then – can you begin to rebuild the trust of the users you've hurt.