Daniel Pietzsch

Support all browsers to some degree – focus first on the latest and greatest browsers, and then go back and make sure that older browsers look and work reasonably well.

This reflects precisely my approach to creating a website/webapp. I love the new features of CSS3 so much, because they enable me - as a developer - to create a decent UI without having to mess around in Photoshop or write tedious, non-semantic markup just to create good looking buttons, rounded corners etc. The design is implemented quicker, is flexible and the site loads faster, too.

The idea here is to begin with a nice, well-styled presentation that looks good in even archaic browsers like IE6. This is a good thing because even visitors using crappy browsers will be able to read and interact with your content. But instead of stopping there, progressive enhancement says, “let’s provide some additional features for people using better browsers.” After all, people using awesome browsers like Firefox, Safari, and Opera want the best experience possible from the Web. Progressive enhancement says, “let’s give it to them, but only after the less-capable crowd has been taken care of first.”

Unfortunately, when you have a lot of IE users and want to present your site in the best possible way, you have to bite the bullet and create all those buttons and rounded corners in Photoshop.
But I think the ‘progressive enhancement’ method is the best thing you can do. You can offer the best possible visual experience for those who use the latest and most advanced browsers at relative low costs. And for those who use older browsers - well, they probably do not care that much about having the best possible experience on the web anyway.

Altogether, the article is a good read and also provides practical information on the new CSS3 techniques - some of which you might not have heard of yet.