Internet Explorer 6, a decade old browser is the scourge of web developers everywhere. Its tremendous market share means catering to an obsolete browser that still defies the popular conventions of upgrading. However, many including Microsoft want the browser gone.
The Public Call To Kill Internet Explorer 6
Internet Explorer 6 is the result of stagnant development on future version of the browser and has caused a headache for developers due to its poor support of current CSS and HTML standards with almost lack of support for their newest versions.
Despite being one of the most rallied against browsers, Internet Explorer 6 still commands 13.72 % of the browser space as of December 2010. However, Internet Explorer 6 is still widely used in China and large corporations that have developed Apps which only work with the browser and would cost a significant amount of money to migrate to a more modern browser.
Despite user needs for Internet Explorer 6, a public call has been made to kill the browser and the campaign is being backed by some of the web’s largest influencers.
Even Microsoft Wants It Gone
One of the largest opponents to Internet Explorer 6’s continued existence is none other than Microsoft.
Microsoft has created a special department whose sole aim is to eradicate the browser from every computer that connects to the web. The department’s head, Ryan Gavin, works with companies that still rely on IE to migrate them to something more modern and standard compliant.
However, Gavin faces another obstacle from the company he works for: XP support. Microsoft has pledged continued support for the decade old XP to 2014. To make Gavin’s job more difficult, Microsoft will not be brining new version of IE to XP instead requiring users to upgrade to Windows 7 or switch to a different browser. That becomes a problem when XP’s market share is still
in the 40% range.
The Sites That Don’t Support IE 6
To speed up IE6’s death, a large number of sites have pledged to end all support for the aging browser. Ending support and displaying a notification that users need to upgrade is nothing new but some of the web’s biggest names are pushing IE 6 faster to the grave.
Google, YouTube and most recently WordPress have pledged to not only end support but other sites are outright not supporting IE6
