Detecting IE11 using CSS Capability/Feature Detect

Question

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 1

You can use js and add a class in html to maintain the standard of conditional comments:

  var ua = navigator.userAgent,
      doc = document.documentElement;

  if ((ua.match(/MSIE 10.0/i))) {
    doc.className = doc.className + " ie10";

  } else if((ua.match(/rv:11.0/i))){
    doc.className = doc.className + " ie11";
  }

Or use a lib like bowser:

https://github.com/ded/bowser

Or modernizr for feature detection:

http://modernizr.com/

Answer 2

Step back: why are you even trying to detect "internet explorer" rather than "my website needs to do X, does this browser support that feature? If so, good browser. If not, then I should warn the user".

You should hit up http://modernizr.com/ instead of continuing what you're doing.

Answer 3

If you're using Modernizr - then you can easily differntiate between IE10 and IE11.

IE10 doesn't support the pointer-events property. IE11 does. (caniuse)

Now, based on the class which Modernizr inserts you could have the following CSS:

.class
{ 
   /* for IE11 */
}

.no-pointerevents .class
{ 
   /* for IE10 */
}

Answer 4

This seems to work:

@media screen and (-ms-high-contrast: active), (-ms-high-contrast: none) {  
   /* IE10+ specific styles go here */  
}

https://www.limecanvas.com/css-hacks-for-targeting-ie-10-and-above/

Answer 5

This worked for me

if(navigator.userAgent.match(/Trident.*rv:11\./)) {
    $('body').addClass('ie11');
}

And then in the css file things prefixed with

body.ie11 #some-other-div

When is this browser ready to die?

Answer 6

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; }

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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;
}

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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.

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Attribution / Essential Reading

• Jeff Clayton | Browserhacks.com
• Keith Clarke
• Paul Irish
• Web Devout
• The Spanner