Conditional Comments are basically a new set of comment-like tags that IE 5+ supports. These tags look very much like the good old comment tag and in fact are treated as such by all browsers except IE, in which they operate a little more intelligently. Using Conditional Comments, you can selectively “comment out” any portion of your page in a way that only IE interprets the containing content, or the other way around.
This is a good and valid alternative to invalid browser specific CSS hacks we used ealier.
<!--[if IE]>
You are using Internet Explorer.
<![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 5]>
You are using Internet Explorer 5.
<![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 5.0]>
You are using Internet Explorer 5.0.
<![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 5.5]>
You are using Internet Explorer 5.5.
<![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 6]>
You are using Internet Explorer 6.
<![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 7]>
You are using Internet Explorer 7.
<![endif]-->
<!--[if gte IE 5]>
You are using Internet Explorer 5 and up.
<![endif]-->
<!--[if lt IE 6]>
You are using Internet Explorer lower than 6.
<![endif]-->
<!--[if lte IE 5.5]>
You are using Internet Explorer lower or equal to 5.5.
<![endif]-->
<!--[if gt IE 6]>
You are using Internet Explorer greater than 6.
<![endif]-->
<!--[if !IE]>
You are NOT using IE.
<![endif]-->
| Operator syntax | Description |
|---|---|
| ! | The “not” operator. |
| lt | The “less than” operator. |
| lte | The “less than or equal to” operator. |
| gt | The “greater than” operator. |
| gte | The “greater than or equal to” operator. |
Hopefully this wont be much used when IE8 comes. It still makes designers create different pages for different browsers. More work for you guys
@John
Yes, let’s have some high hopes of IE8, but still we need to tweak IE5.5 - IE7.
ya e still need to support old ie’s since most users won’t upgrade unless they get it with the os.
But what if Microsoft distribute IE8 for free?
I’m sure we have at least a couple more years before we can safely stop with the IE hacks. I’ve still got a relatively large number of visitor to my site using 5.5. Sure be nice to see that drop off.
@Dawayne
Yes true, but if Microsoft updated IE8 automatically via Windows Update then we don’t have to worry about IE5.5
But anyway we have to maintain “Backward Compatibility” & “Progressive Enhancement” or our site