Detecting IE11 using CSS Capability/Feature Detection
IE10+ no longer supports browser detection tags to identify a browser.
For detecting IE10 I am using JavaScript and a capability-testing technique to detect certain ms prefixed styles are defined such as msTouchAction and msWrapFlow.
I want to do the same for IE11, but I am assuming that all the IE10 styles will be supported in IE11 as well. Can anyone help me identify IE11 only styles or capabilities that I could use to tell the two apart?
Extra Info
- I don't want to use User Agent type detection because it's so spotty, and can be changed, as well as I think I've read that IE11 is intentionally trying to hide the fact it's Internet Explorer.
- For an example of how the IE10 capability testing works, I used this JsFiddle (not mine) as a basis for my testing.
- Also I am expecting a lot of answers of "This is a bad idea...". One of my needs for this is that IE10 claims it supports something, but it is very badly implemented, and I want to be able to differentiate between IE10 and IE11+ so I can move on with a capability-based detection method in the future.
- This test is coupled with a Modernizr test that will simply make some functionality "fallback" to less glamorous behavior. We are not talking about critical functionality.
ALSO I am already using Modernizr, but it doesn't help here. I need help for a solution to my clearly asked question please.
Answer
In the light of the evolving thread, I have updated the below:
IE 6
* html .ie6 {property:value;}
or
.ie6 { _property:value;}
IE 7
*+html .ie7 {property:value;}
or
*:first-child+html .ie7 {property:value;}
IE 6 and 7
@media screen\9 {
.ie67 {property:value;}
}
or
.ie67 { *property:value;}
or
.ie67 { #property:value;}
IE 6, 7 and 8
@media \0screen\,screen\9 {
.ie678 {property:value;}
}
IE 8
html>/**/body .ie8 {property:value;}
or
@media \0screen {
.ie8 {property:value;}
}
IE 8 Standards Mode Only
.ie8 { property /*\**/: value\9 }
IE 8,9 and 10
@media screen\0 {
.ie8910 {property:value;}
}
IE 9 only
@media screen and (min-width:0\0) and (min-resolution: .001dpcm) {
// IE9 CSS
.ie9{property:value;}
}
IE 9 and above
@media screen and (min-width:0\0) and (min-resolution: +72dpi) {
// IE9+ CSS
.ie9up{property:value;}
}
IE 9 and 10
@media screen and (min-width:0) {
.ie910{property:value;}
}
IE 10 only
_:-ms-lang(x), .ie10 { property:value\9; }
IE 10 and above
_:-ms-lang(x), .ie10up { property:value; }
or
@media all and (-ms-high-contrast: none), (-ms-high-contrast: active) {
.ie10up{property:value;}
}
The use of -ms-high-contrast means that MS Edge will not be targeted, as Edge does not support -ms-high-contrast.
IE 11
_:-ms-fullscreen, :root .ie11up { property:value; }
Javascript alternatives
Modernizr
Modernizr runs quickly on page load to detect features; it then creates a JavaScript object with the results, and adds classes to the html element
User agent selection
Javascript:
var b = document.documentElement;
b.setAttribute('data-useragent', navigator.userAgent);
b.setAttribute('data-platform', navigator.platform );
b.className += ((!!('ontouchstart' in window) || !!('onmsgesturechange' in window))?' touch':'');
Adds (e.g) the below to html element:
data-useragent='Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; Trident/5.0; SLCC2; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET CLR 3.0.30729; Media Center PC 6.0; .NET4.0C)'
data-platform='Win32'
Allowing very targetted CSS selectors, e.g.:
html[data-useragent*='Chrome/13.0'] .nav{
background:url(img/radial_grad.png) center bottom no-repeat;
}
Footnote
If possible, identify and fix any issue(s) without hacks. Support progressive enhancement and graceful degradation. However, this is an 'ideal world' scenario not always obtainable, as such- the above should help provide some good options.