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Why does Internet Explorer Mobile 6 use a layout viewport of 974px?

974 seems like a suspiciously precise number.

Charles
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Ben Aston
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  • 974 or 947? Also, which *specific* version of IE are we talking about here? Keep in mind that different versions of the IE rendering engine shipped with different versions of Windows Mobile / CE / Phone. – Charles Jan 03 '12 at 22:46
  • Question updated, thanks. I do not know the answer to your question. I am repeating information gleaned from http://www.quirksmode.org/mobile/viewports2.html. The article was written in 2010. – Ben Aston Jan 03 '12 at 23:29
  • Ah, thanks for that. According to the [resulting table](http://www.quirksmode.org/mobile/tableViewport.html), the IE version in question is "Internet Explorer Mobile 6", released as part of Windows Mobile 6.5. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer_Mobile#Internet_Explorer_Mobile_6) says that MS says it uses *the same layout engine as desktop IE6*, which might be interesting or important. – Charles Jan 04 '12 at 20:37

1 Answers1

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The number is chosen for 1024x768 monitors, which were the de facto standard for a long time. 1024 - 974 = 50, which allowed for 25px margins on each side.

For 1024×768 screen resolution, the approximate visible area is 974×650.

Many grid systems use that width, such as the following:

Community
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Paul Sweatte
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