Why does my page that I wrote on a Macintosh not work on Windows computers?

The other day, I received the question from heidi:

I have published my site and it was built on Mac platform, but the site doesn’t work on PC platform. Shouldn’t it work on both?

The short answer is "it depends". Without seeing your Web page, it's hard to say why it's not working on PC or Windows computers. However, in general, if you're using a Web editing tool, your Web pages should "work" regardless of the operating system the browser that is viewing them is on.

Troubleshooting Web Page Display Issues

The first thing I always do when I experience a problem with how a page is displaying is to validate the HTML. You will often find that the display issues that you see on one browser/OS combination are caused because your HTML has errors. You should also validate the CSS you are using.

With valid XHTML or HTML if you're still seeing a difference between Macintosh and PC, then you'll need to isolate the problem.

1. First go into your HTML and remove all the HTML (except for the page framework - html and body tags) before the problem starts.
2. Then remove all the HTML after the problem area. The object is to have a Web page that has only the problem on it and nothing else.
3. Once you've isolated the HTML, then isolate the CSS in the same fashion.
4. Be sure to validate both your HTML and CSS once you've isolated the problem.
5. With the problem isolated, start toying with it. Remove one tag or CSS property at a time and test on your two browsers. Eventually you will have it narrowed down to exactly what the problem is.

Then you can start adding in HTML tags or CSS properties to get it to work as you want it to. Be sure to add in only one tag or property at a time - keep your HTML and CSS as simple as possible.

Remove the Complexity from Your HTML and CSS

The second most common reason for a Web page to look wrong is because the code is too complex. If you follow the steps listed above, you should end up with the minimum HTML and CSS required to do what you're trying to do. Only add things in if there is no other way to do it. Complex code is confusing for you as the designer and for browsers trying to read it. The simpler your HTML and CSS are, the fewer problems you'll introduce.