Highly restrictive MSIE access via htaccess?

Protecting users from themselves and MS...

[JAB Creations]

I'm previewing the new MSIE and I'm honestly ready to outright block all MSIE browsers from my site. I'd like to make only certain pages accessible to MSIE for limited browsing so MSIE users see the site normally except when they leave privileged pages. I'd like to setup a 403 error pages (browser specific) that forces users to switch to a displayed listing of acceptable browsers that are not going to contribute to their insanity.

SP2 was supposed to help put a stop to the spyware...it hasn't.

Anti-spyware was put out ...

IE7 is coming out...

Still I clean dozens of computers of viruses and spyware and it's time to put a stop the to monopoly of MSIE. It's time to stop accepting a monopoly that will only (and hardly) change when any sort of competition starts putting the fire on it's ass.

Does anyone have a decent idea of how to do this? If not I will be banning MSIE universally from my site.

[jdMorgan]

If you pursue this course, most visitors with IE7 will come to your site, see "Some kind of error message" and then they'll leave, thinking your site is broken.

If you require a non-MSIE7 browser, and you give them instructions on how to switch to Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Opera, etc., they'll say, "Oh, that's complicated, I don't understand that kind of stuff," and then they'll leave, thinking your site is too complicated.

Bottom line is that this approach is an excellent way to alienate most of your user base, and turn your site into a backwater. You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink.

I would suggest a more "service-oriented" approach: Use SSI or PHP on your pages to detect MSIE7, and output a page element that says, "We feel that your MSIE7 browser is insecure. For more information about free alternative browsers from well-known and reputable companies, click here."

Maybe you could also put up some free advertising for Mozilla.org and Opera on your site using their logos.

I *love* to see visitors coming to my sites with updated alternative browser User-agents, and I use a similar approach on one tech-type site to notify outdated browser users that updates are available. But IMO, beating up your visitors and requiring that they conform to your preferences is counter-productive. It's best to be helpful, not demanding. After all, there are millions of Web sites out there, and some of them compete with you for traffic. Why would anyone want to go to a site that forces software upgrades on them?

Jim