Viewing The Full Verion Of Our Site
Although all the content of our site is accessible to any browser or Internet device, it looks much more graphical in a browser that supports web standards. So, to view the full version of our site, you must be using a standards-compliant web browser.
98.7% of our current visitors use standards-compliant web browsers, but you appear not to be using one. We want to help you remedy this situation and improve your experience of our site and the rest of the internet. Soon most of the Internet will require standards-compliant web browsers, so don't be left behind.
Click one of the download links on the left to freely upgrade your browser, or read on for more information on standards-compliant browsers.
Upgrade Your Browser For Free:
Here is a list of standards-compliant browsers for several operating systems. All are FREE. Just click to download, then run the installer and begin using your new browser:
Windows
MAC OS 8 and 9 (Classic)
MAC OSX
Linux/Unix
Why Should I Upgrade?
Web browsers become obsolete over time (just like any other software). Newer browsers support the standards set forth by The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) — the people who invented the web itself. The W3C created these standards so the web would work better for everyone.
Prior to web standards, there was no agreement on a set of code that would work the same in all browsers. Each browser manufacturer did things differently. Imagine many different construction companies all having a different idea of how long an "inch" is. Without everyone conforming to the same standard, there tends to be chaos. Web standards have solved this problem for website users and website builders.
Unfortunately, older browsers such as Netscape 4 and Internet Explorer 4 don't support these standards. Until recently this prevented many websites from adopting the use of standards-compliant code.
For example, in January of 2001, the number of visitors using Netscape 4 (released in 1997) worldwide was still around 10%. Which is a large enough group of visitors that most websites felt compelled to stick with non-standards compliant code. But as of July 2004, Netscape 4 use has fallen off to only a tiny fraction of 1%. The same is true of other older non-compliant browsers. So now, most major websites are in the process of, or already have upgraded their code to standards compliance.
So what does this mean for me, if I continue to use an older browser? You'll still be able to access all the content on standards-compliant websites... but it won't look as pretty and will usually be mostly text based.