Web designers worldwide are staging an online revolt against the Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 web browser. The designers claim that “IE6,” which was released 8 years ago but is still used by 20% of users, is “crippling the Internet’s potential and slowing down the online experience.”
The "IE 6 No More" website seems to be the hub of online dissent against IE6. The site includes code that developers can insert into their websites to encourage IE6 users to upgrade. Some websites already provide hurdles or roadblocks to IE6. For example, YouTube sends a message to IE6 users, asking them to upgrade to another browser like Internet Explorer 8, Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. However, YouTube will continue to function in basic mode for IE6 and other outdated browsers.
Microsoft also wants its users to upgrade to the new IE8. “Microsoft has consistently recommended that consumers upgrade to the latest version of our browser,” the company said. “Internet Explorer 8 offers improvements in speed, security and reliability as well as new features designed for the way people use the Web.”
Web developers especially hate IE6 because they have to write special “hacks” into their code to accommodate the outmoded browser. “As any Web developer will tell you, working with IE 6 is one of the most difficult and frustrating things they have to deal with on a daily basis, taking up a disproportionate amount of their time,” says the IE6 No More site. “Beyond that, IE6’s support for modern Web standards is very lacking, restricting what developers can create and holding the Web back.”
IE6 will face an even bigger challenge when the HTML 5 language is adopted by websites. HTML 5 enables websites to deliver flashier video and act more like traditional desktop applications, but it won’t run on IE6.
Article published on August 10, 2009
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August 10th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Impede progress??? what a croc… I agree that IE6 is horrid but to say that it is holding back the web is ludicrous. The reason IE6 is still around is because those 20%’ers probably don’t know how to update their computers.
Geez luis this one made my head spin.
The only thing I know that slows down the internet is crappy coding, over use of flash, and connection speeds. These overzealous dingbats don’t seem to understand the machine is only as good as the person that made it. Another adspace for those that like to bash things they can’t control if you ask me… Like Google.
/rant off.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
I agree, 20% of users using IE 6 does not impede progress. If IE6 is truely to be wiped out, then websites should block them (with an error page) and explain to them that they need to upgrade their browser. Then offer them alternatives.
I know a lot of users that use IE 6 because they are still running the same applications on a Windows 2000 platform. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it (so to speak); budget limitations (or even cuts) impede many users from upgrading to even XP.
These users will not change browsers unless they are forced to, either by requiring them to update their browser to enter a website or simply because their box finally dies and they are forced to upgrade, by proxy, with a new computer.
// CHRIS
August 13th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Microsoft responds:
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2009/08/10/engineering-pov-ie6.aspx
July 28th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
[…] Internet Explorer 6: It’s Time to Die […]
September 27th, 2010 at 2:52 am
Yes, windows 2000 is still out there in substantial quantities and ie 7/8 won’t install on it.
But there is a flip side to this as well. There are unfortunately a lot of websites that still exist that were written specifically for IE6 and they might be compatible with newer versions of IE maybe, but they definitely won’t work with any other browser.
So, if you happen to be a business user of an institutional website, you are stuck stuck stuck…. until that website gets updated at a glacial pace.
and if you are using a browser for one website, the tendency is to use it for all the others as well.
February 27th, 2011 at 2:57 pm
What a relief to read original posts on your page. (There must be at least THOUSAND “auto blogs” these days). Btw, your feed isn’t working, just wished to let you know.. Me. 🙂