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This just started happening recently:

After posting a comment, Internet Explorer 8 refreshes and displays SU (or any other SE site) in compatibility view:

IE8 Compatibility View

When viewing in compatibility view, the tag formatting is broken:

Tag formatting broken in Compatibility View

Any idea why this is happening? Is it just another stupid Internet Explorer bug?

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  • We've had reports of this before, but I haven't been able to reproduce it.
    – balpha StaffMod
    Commented Nov 28, 2011 at 14:28
  • Does this also happen with a newly created user account on your computer?
    – Daniel Beck Mod
    Commented Nov 28, 2011 at 18:58
  • @balpha it seems to only happen when I submit the comment by pressing 'Enter'
    – Nate Koppenhaver
    Commented Nov 28, 2011 at 19:55
  • Yep @NateKoppenhaver, that's what the other report said as well. I hadn't tried with real IE8 yet (just IE9 in IE8 mode), but I couldn't reproduce there; but even with a real IE8 we can't get this to happen. Very weird.
    – balpha StaffMod
    Commented Nov 28, 2011 at 20:04
  • @DanielBeck StackExchange seems to be having trouble making a new account, so I can't test that currently
    – Nate Koppenhaver
    Commented Nov 28, 2011 at 22:23
  • No,I meant computer account.
    – Daniel Beck Mod
    Commented Nov 28, 2011 at 22:44
  • @DanielBeck I'm unable to test that on this machine. When I get my other computer running again, I'll test to see if it happens on that one too
    – Nate Koppenhaver
    Commented Dec 24, 2011 at 4:30
  • too localized + being tracked on Meta.SO
    – Sathyajith Bhat Mod
    Commented Feb 4, 2012 at 20:05

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
0

I started having this problem last September (IE8 under XP). I uninstalled several major software components - applications, device drivers, fonts, etc. (then re-installed most from scratch), after which the problem went away for some months, but reappeared just before Xmas.

This time I just didn't have the energy to go through all that uninstall/reinstall stuff - I never knew which component was critical, and obviously it was likely to fail again later. I switched to Google Chrome - within 1/2 hour I was finding Chrome just as easy to use (and much faster) After a day or so I was fully up to speed with Chrome, and I can't believe I put up with IE8 for so long just to avoid learning a different (and vastly superior) user interface on my browser!

TL;DR: Dump IE8 and switch to Chrome! You won't regret it!

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  • Actually, I've already switched - to Firefox. I have Chrome running on my Linux box and both Chrome and Firefox leave IE8 in the dust speed-wise, and they support the new web standards too (HTML5 and CSS3)
    – Nate Koppenhaver
    Commented Jan 23, 2012 at 18:00
  • 2
    Many users don't have this option due to corporate policy. @NateKoppenhaver Consider unaccepting this answer, so it won't get ignored by the developers. It's not actually solved, you simply circumvented it/gave up for yourself.
    – Daniel Beck Mod
    Commented Jan 23, 2012 at 20:25
  • @Daniel Beck: I understand your point, but for many people with this problem, my approach might well be the best "answer" - so I stand by the fact that I posted it as such, rather than just as a comment. And IMHO if you're working somewhere with a "corporate policy" requiring you to stick with effectively "unsupported" Windows XP + IE8, the only answer is to look for another job anyway.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 23, 2012 at 21:01
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    I don't have anything against your answer. It's a perfectly acceptable solution from a user's POV, if you have the choice. But it remains a workaround and the site designers should fix it. IE9 was released less than a year ago. It's as obsolete as Firefox 3.6, and both still have tons of users. "Closing" this topic by having an accepted solution simply sends the wrong signals to the powers that be.
    – Daniel Beck Mod
    Commented Jan 23, 2012 at 21:09
  • 1
    And have Google spy on all your websites and sell your passwords to third parties. No way.
    – kinokijuf
    Commented Jan 29, 2012 at 10:11

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