As a professional web developer I have the authority to say this, Internet Explorer is a pain in the ass to support. IE 6 is the browser that shipped with Windows XP, so it was pretty wide spread. Every year on the web is like 10 years in any other industry. This makes IE 6 about 80 years old in practical terms, a literal antique. Microsoft is now on version 8 of Internet Explorer. IE6 is not considered a “modern browser”. Modern browsers honor web site development standards and promote a consistent visual experience are users. The most notable of these modern browsers are FireFox, Chrome, Safari, and even Opera.
In a nut shell, a web browsers is an interpreter of code. Programmers write the code to power a website, but the displaying and presentation of the site is up to the web browser. Modern browsers will all react the programmers code in a similar manner, this gives users a consistent experience and lets programmers worry more about making cool stuff instead of worrying about how to make their pages look consistent on all browsers. IE 6 doesn’t play by the modern rules, it does its own thing, which is often unpredictable. This means that programmers have to write special code just for people who use IE 6 to look at their site.
Despite IE 6 being a horrible browser that is full of security holes, people continue to use it which is mind blowing to me. Upgrading to IE 7 or IE 8 is free, and mandatory if you have Windows XP service pack 2 or 3 installed. Better yet, IE 6 doesn’t come with Windows Vista or Windows 7. Get with the time people and upgrade your computers!
Because IE 6 is still widely used but doesn’t play by today’s rules so to speak, and it is old, the decision has been made, IE 6 MUST DIE!
Major website announced this week that they would be displaying special messages to IE 6 users telling them to upgrade to a modern browser or lose the use of the site. Some of the big boys behind this effort include Twitter, Facebook, Digg and YouTube. In time these sites are going to stop worrying about IE 6 users all together.
I think this is an amazing step towards the future and would like to see some of the larger websites join together to solve some of the webs other problems.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
It isn’t that simple…”just upgrade your browser.”
What if you can’t? (corporate environment has already sunk half a million dollars sinto making their internal applications work)
What if you don’t want to? (your a middle-aged web surfer who could care less about being a Firefox fanboy).
I’m using IE6 right now. It’s like my Cadillac on the web…big, heavy, slow, full of nostalgia, and strangely comfortable.
In the IE6 world everything was simple…just point and click. There weren’t a lot of strange acronyms and mystifying “web standards”. There was year after year of “stability”, with Netscape gone, kind of like Ancient Egypt…there was only the sound of the Microsoft Nile flowing.
IE6 is my digital SUV…it says, “I’m American. Look at how wasteful I am. Aint it great?”
Yes, IE6 is the devil…but it’s the devil we know. “Change” isn’t always for everyone.
I am reading this site from Spain using Netscape which is my favourite. I don’t like any of the others.
To “IE6 will live forever”, your comparison to IE6 being like a ‘big, heavy, slow, full of nostalgia, and strangely comfortable’ Cadillac doesn’t work. A functional Cadillac should always get you from point A to point B. In terms of websites, IE6 will eventually stop taking you from site A to site B.
A more accurate way of using your car analogy would be to say that IE6 is like your gas guzzling Cadillac while the world changes to electric cars – the stations will eventually stop selling gas, and you’ll be out of luck.
The fact is, users are expecting a more rich experience from their web browsing. Delivering that to a user base still on IE6 is getting more and more expensive. Eventually the cost to support IE6 will be more than the small user base brings to the table and it will die… I just hope its sooner than later.