What is better: CSS hacks or browser detection?

Question

Commonly when I look around the Internet, I find that people are generally using CSS hacks to make their website look the same in all browsers. Personally, I have found this

Answer 1

I generally like to have a stylesheet for standards-compliant browsers such as Firefox and Safari and then use conditional comments to detect Internet Explorer and serve it an additional CSS file containing IE-specific fixes and overrides.

Answer 2

I try not to use either. In a lot of cases the issues that IE have can be avoided by simplifying the structure of your markup somewhat.

It also helps if you use a decent CSS reset like Eric Meyer's.

I am also slowly but surely dropping support for IE6 as a matter of principle, especially given the latest security issues with IE6 and IE7 - we're not going to change people's browsing habits and browser preferences if we keep supporting crappy browsers.

Answer 3

[My approach][1] using a PHP class to detect os, browser and browser version.

[1]: My approach using a PHP class to detect os, browser and browser version http://reinholdweber.com/css/css-hacks-browser-version-detection-a-new-approach/