I want to get everyone’s opinion on the use of PNGs in web sites today.
I think they’re great because they offer perfect image transparency in modern browsers… however I’ve tended not to use them purely because the transparency doesn’t work with older versions of IE, which is the most commonly used browser and because version 6 (I think) is still being used by many people today. I’m leaning towards just using them because it has been nearly 2 years since IE7 was released (which liked PNGs) and people should have upgraded by now.
I’m aware there are certain fixes (JavaScript?) for the PNG transparency problem in older browsers, but I didn’t bother looking into them because at the time it seemed like too much work just so one image would work how I wanted it to.
When I’ve needed transparency with images on my sites, I’ve either used GIFs (not the best, but work fairly well with the right matte) or SWFs (awesome for transparency, but difficult to use consistantly).
What are your views on PNGs? Do you use them? Have you taken steps so that they work with older browsers or have you just said “Stuff it” and just accepted that people will have to have the latest browser for the site to work properly?
