This news may come as a shocker to the tech-savvy folks in the house, but 60 percent of companies use Internet Explorer 6 as their default browser, according to Forrester Research. (...) Why? Companies are worried about custom apps that may fail on new browsers and security and compliance. In addition, companies limit the ability to upgrade. Seventy percent of companies restrict browser choice and Web content. Forrester notes that "IT control trumps technology populism." Ultimately, this IT control may be short sighted, argues McLeish(article)
Is IE6 dead yet?
We’ve got our finger on the pulse
Why not?
- 01/05/09: news.cnet.com: “What browser wars? The enterprise still loves IE 6″
- 15/04/09: forabeautifulweb.com: “In defense of IE6″
Imagine how I'd feel if tomorrow I rolled up to fill up at my local garage, to find that the only petrol I could buy was for more modern bangers, or that the gas I could buy would noticeably deteriorate my car's performance. I'm not just talking about a few notches on the speedo, I'm talking about making my motor plod along at five miles per hour. How happy would I be? Not very. How pissed would I be if the designers of modern cars had not considered my needs and offered me the ability to carry on driving, albeit at a slightly reduced speed? It could be worse. If I'd missed the photocopied sign, Selotaped to the pump, the one warning me that my car was too old for high-octane, low lead, hydrogen infused wonder fuel, when ten miles down the road with smoke billowing and big-end rattling, I'm going to think that either it's my fault or that my car is broken.
(article) - 28/03/09: thoughtsmedia.com: “Calling all Internet Explorer 6 Users”
IE6 is a highly problematic browser for developers to code for - so much so that there are several online movements to banish it once and for all - yet it's still being used in surprising numbers. So if you're using IE6 on your computer that you use to access any of Thoughts Media Web sites, tell me why - I'm really curious! ----- Answers:
(article)- At work, the only authorized browser is IE6. At home I don't use it.
- Lack of choice in a very locked down work setting. IE is mostly used for intranet utilities, and only very limited generic web surfing is allowed.
- This is down to the corporates. Our corporate build is actually IE6 (...) because a number of (very expensive) web based enterprise applications don't work in IE7 (or FF or Chrome for that matter). (...) Corporates don't use Windows Update.
- 26/03/09: codestore.net: “Wither IE6?”
The problem isn't so much that The Business likes IE it's that they're slow to adopt newer versions. Roughly speaking about 3 of my 5 big, repeat customers are still using IE6. That's why I have to continue to develop for it. With some clients we've agreed that systems I develop will support A-Grade browsers, as defined by the Yahoo! Graded Browser Support, which now included IE 6, 7 and 8. IE being the only one with more that two versions on there are the same time.
(article) - 24/03/09: ithinkdiff.com: “Does Microsoft still unconsciously promote Internet Explorer 6?”
In current times, when we are seeing campaigns such as STOP IE6 and also Microsoft themselves advertising the fresh new Internet Explorer 8, which is no doubt better than previous IE version and even the vulnerable and easily hackable Safari, we still see IE6 being promoted byMicrosoft themselves. No, this isn’t a Photoshoped image, and if you happen to come across download at Microsoft downloads website that requires genuine validation, you’ll see IE6 in the guide to install the ActiveX control. Microsoft, can we please move on from IE6 once and for all?
(article)
- 24/03/09: apcmag.com: “CAMPAIGN: Death to Internet Explorer 6″
The biggest factor keeping Internet Explorer 6.0 afloat, according to Bring Down IE6, is that its 7.0 and 8.0 successors don’t run on Windows 2000 – leaving businesses with legacy-based Windows 2000 systems little choice but to run IE6 until they upgrade their corporate platform.
(article) - 23/03/09: tgdaily.com: “Internet Explorer 8: How not to launch a new browser “
But the heart of the matter is that, in a best case scenario, IE8 has gained less than 1% of market share over the weekend and may have seen somewhere between 5 and 7 million downloads between Friday evening and Sunday night. Since launch day, the market share has increased by less than 1.3% - if Net Applications’ numbers are correct. Let’s look at what Mozilla accomplished with Firefox. Firefox 3 gained 2.76 percentage points over its first four days of availability – and we are talking about a browser that had less than 20% overall market share at the time of its release. Microsoft’s IE is still well above the 65% mark. You do the math on the performance discrepancy – and it is now even more impressive how Mozilla handled the launch of Firefox 3.
(article) - 22/03/09: mytechworld.officeacuity.com: “The Great IE6 Assassination Plot”
As a web developer, I’m constantly finding myself at war with IE6 trying to get the page I’m working on to render correctly. But the reasons I mention above make me think that no campaign in the world is going to matter until corporates at least are forced into pushing out a newer version (hopefully IE8). Once this happens, companies may start advertising their sites as requiring these newer versions so that we start to see a trickle-down effect whereby those late-adopters (about 20% of the global market, depending on whose stats you read) fall in line. If you’re using IE6 (there’s about 10% of you on average) and you’re not constrained by corporate sluggishness, shame on you! But honestly, I feel reluctantly resigned to the reality of having to support that community for at least another 12 months yet.
(article) - 22/03/09: tylersticka.com: “How to support IE6 without dying inside”
I would love nothing more than for Internet Explorer 6 to be six feet under, but with nearly 20% of the browser market I can no more ignore it than I can Mozilla Firefox. The goal is to remain empathetic to our audience while rewarding those who graduate to more modern solutions. If we create innovations with genuine value, our users will happily come along for the ride.
(article) - 21/03/09: creativewhirlwind.com: “Please ditch IE 6 and upgrade to Internet Explorer 8!”
Internet Explorer 6 is almost 9 years old, but it is still used by many today. I’m not exactly sure why that is, but it probably has something to do with Network Administrators not wanting to upgrade browsers and operating systems at large companies.
(article) - 13/03/09: hannush.com: “Who Still Uses Internet Explorer 6?”
Why aren’t people leaving this browser that has been around since August of 2001? Unfortunately there are many reasons. First, if you own a PC that doesn’t have at least Windows XP Service Pack 2, IE7 is not available for you to install. Second, many applications developed over the years are built with IE6 as the delivery mechanism. Remember at one time, Internet Explorer held 95% of the browser market and this was during the hayday of IE6. Third, people don’t like change. For years, I have been wondering why my wife won’t turn off the “Classic Windows” look on her computer…we tried an upgrade to Internet Explorer 7 and she didn’t like it. (...) Will the soon to be released Internet Explorer 8 change that trend and finally kill IE6? Most likely not. The biggest reason is the economy. Companies don’t have the funds to re-engineer old software tied to IE6. Computer owners are probably going to be slower to migrate away to new computers due to tight budgets and the fear tactics of Vista’s quality (which is nowhere near as bad as some people will have you think…Apple are you listening). And, overall, people don’t like change.
(article) - 11/03/09: thecssninja.com: “Don’t kill IE6, degrade it”
As a front-end developer there is considerable time involved in making some of IE6’s short comings work the way they do in more standard compliant browsers. But with a large user base still using IE6, and this is usually not their choice but is part of their internal legacy infrastructure. We don’t have solid ground to stop supporting IE6 all together. A client paying a large amount of money would expect their product to work regardless of what browser they use and usually they aren’t even aware what browser they are using. It would only fuel frustration to a user to have a big message appear stating they are using obsolete software.
(article) - 11/03/09: devreview.com: “The Slow Death of IE6″
So when will IE6 die? Unfortunately not soon. Any IE6 user who has not updated to IE7 is not likely to update to IE8 or another browser. IE6 users will be Windows XP users who have ignored the IE7 update or on and older Windows OS such as 2000 or even 98. The only way these users will change is when they upgrade their PC. And given global economic conditions many users will likely try an extra year out of that current PC. The same goes for corporate upgrades which often trail the latest technology, and have not embraced the move to Windows Vista.
(read the full article) - 24/02/09: sitepoint.com: “The Slow Lingering Death of IE6″
IE7 adoption has possibly reached saturation point. Although IE7 users are likely to upgrade to IE8, its release may not have a significant impact on existing IE6 users. Whilst there are several high-profile internet campaigns to eradicate IE6, its demise is occurring at a frustratingly sedate pace. The browser will die naturally as legacy systems are fixed and people migrate to more recent versions of Windows (or Mac/Linux), but celebrations of IE6’s final breaths are likely to be several years premature. Unfortunately, few web developers will be in the position to drop support for the browser for some time to come.
(article) - 20/02/09: framablog.org: “Le jour où le Web refusa le navigateur Internet Explorer 6″
IE6, sorti en 2001, est le fléau des programmeurs web, des designers, et des équipes de support de service web. Le navigateur est bourré de bizarreries (NdT : non respect des standards) qui le rendent incapable d’interpréter les pages de la même manière que les autres navigateurs, et les webmestres doivent donc toujours prévoir des exceptions pour s’adresser aux utilisateurs d’IE6.
La plupart d’entre eux souhaiteraient simplement que ce navigateur disparaisse, les libérant ainsi de son support. Les chiffres varient d’un pays à l’autre, mais il reste entre 10% et 20% d’internautes utilisant IE6 de par le monde, certains par méconnaissance d’un meilleur navigateur, d’autres parce que le logiciel leur est imposé par leur entreprise. Finn.no note que 17% de ses utilisateurs utilisent IE6. De telles proportions sont trop importantes à l’heure actuelle pour être ignorées par les concepteurs de site web.
(article) - 03/02/09: alsacreations.com: “IE6 passe sous la barre des 20%”
Le problème c'est que même 10%, ce n'est pas négligeable. Surtout en sachant que ces les personnes qui naviguent sous IE6 ne le font pas de leur plein gré le plus souvent : dans les grosses structures, c'est le service informatique qui décide de ce qui est installé sur les postes, et bien souvent on impose ie6 "juste" parce que des applis intranet ont été développés sous Win2000/IE6 et que ces applis fonctionneraient mal avec autre chose. Alors, doit-on pénaliser ces personnes ? Là est la question.
(article) - 27/01/09: stemkoski.com: “I Hope I Can Outlive Internet Explorer 6″
I think the staying power of IE6 is due to a couple of factors. The first is corporate IT departments resistant to change. The other is the tendency for Windows users to disable their automatic updates.
(article) - 01/01/09: devlounge.net: “The Death of Internet Explorer 6: Still Prematurely Called”
Let me put it this way. If you’re not support IE6, then you’re telling Windows 2000 users to piss off, along with a considerable chunk of the surfers. IE6 isn’t a 5% share browser, like Safari, it’s got 25% of the market! That’s right, 1/4 of the people surfing the web are using Internet Explorer 6, a web browser more than 7 years old.
(article) - 01/01/09: microsoft.com: “Lifecycle Supported Service Packs”"Internet Explorer 6 on Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2" and other recent flavors of IE6 are officially supported until 13-Jul-2010 (for now). (page) Also... isie6dead.com (counter)
- 01/01/09: particletree.com: “On the Tenacity of Internet Explorer 6″
To give you some context that might explain things, at the end of 2004, Microsoft finally released Windows XP Service Pack 2 and if you look at the feature list, you’ll notice the first one highlighted is “Internet Explorer Pop-up Blocker.” In January 2005, Microsoft launched their Anti-Spyware and Anti-Virus Tools, which was offered for free and seeing that it came from a familiar (and some-what) trusted source—it too, was downloaded like gangbusters. And so we shouldn’t be surprised that in the fall of 2005, a number of reports started coming in from bloggers wondering about the slowing of Firefox adoption. By the end of the first quarter of 2006, we can see that spyware was on the slow decline in the minds of users of the Internet. By the time Internet Explorer 7 came out in the fall of 2006, the crisis was basically over and the masses were already content customizing their favorite web 1.0 application (MySpace), which worked just fine in IE6. One might even argue that the arrival of IE7 was way too late and probably explains why the browser’s adoption rate (and I’m guessing here) follows the adoption rates of Vista and those who are willing to let SP2 just install it for them. What’s interesting is that Microsoft should be thanking Google. The company that had done the most to encourage Firefox adoption, might have also done the most harm with their, well…excellent toolbar for IE6. In fact, Google’s toolbar and desktop search applications pretty much launched the whole toolbar battle that’s been raging between the trinity (Yahoo, Google and Microsoft). My bet is that for every toolbar that was installed on Internet Explorer 6, it effectively halted the need for that user to convert to a different browser.
(article) - 01/01/09: marylandmedia.com: “Stop being a dick, support IE6″
It doesn’t matter how bad IE6 is or even how old IE6 might be; all that matters is that it is still commonly used among the masses. Yes, IE6 is approaching being its seventh birthday – but here is the reality: you are a geek and most web users are not. You know what “Firefox” and “Opera” are, you care about advancements in browsing technology … you look for better software than what was installed by the manufacturer at purchase. The rest of the computing web surfing world is completely the opposite, and you have to remember, realize and live with this truth.
(article) - 01/01/09: milienzo.com: “Is it OK to stop supporting Internet Explorer 6?”
A poll has been running with 85 per cent agreeing that yes we should stop using IE6 hacks, to 15 per cent saying we should carry on using IE6 hacks. Here is why 85 per cent of those voters are wrong:
(article from 2007)- Many IE6 users are either a) within businesses and organisations whose computers are locked to a certain configuration, or b) users of older computers and operating systems (eg Windows 2000) and upgrading is not a possibility.
- The client you are building a website for probably cares about those 50 per cent of users who you are about to alienate. In fact, your client probably cares about them a lot. And they’re paying you to do a job!
- When non-techy IE6 users find your standards only site not rendering in the only Internet browser they’ve ever known, they’re going to do one thing. It begins in ‘B’ and ends in ‘ACK’.
- 01/01/09: InfoQ: “Internet Explorer 6 on its way out (or not)?”
When Douglas Crockford, senior JavaScript Architect at Yahoo and creator of JSON was asked he said that:
(multi-quote article)There is a large class of users who will not install software, even free software. These people use IE6, and there are a lot of them. If you are operating a fringe site that does not appeal to that demographic, then it is smart to drop IE 6 support, freeing yourself and your other users from the many problems associated with the antique browser. If you are operating a mainstream site that appeals broadly to all users, then regrettably you must continue to support IE 6 until its share drops to insignificance.
Is there hope?
- 26/03/09: blogs.msdn.com/nigel: “(…) IE6 down 8.8% in NZ in 8 Months.”
Over the last few months web developers at some of New Zealand's largest corporates tell me that their IT departments still deploy new desktop computers with standardised builds of Windows XP and Internet Explorer 6! This continues to concern me and I am talking with Microsoft account managers to see how we can change this. Eight months ago we started our process to Get rid of IE6 in New Zealand, now it is time to once again check in on how we are doing?
(article)
The good news is that we removed 8.76% of Internet Explorer 6 from New Zealand forever! The bad news is that IE6 still makes up 13.6% of New Zealand web users. - 25/03/09: h0bbel.p0ggel.org: “Microsoft (…) links to Norwegian anti-IE6 Campaign”
Yesterday I received an email from Ellen Skoglund, Windows Partner Solutions Manager here in Norway. Basically it's a "Get ready for Windows 7" email detailing how you should start to get ready for the Windows 7 release. More interestingly, at least for the time being, it also had some thoughts regarding the usage of Internet Explorer 6. They even quote Gartner Group:
(article)"IE6 Is a Bad Place to Be. IE6 has limitations in the areas of user experience, standards support and, historically, security".
Microsoft goes on to link to the Norwegian IE6-campaign. - 23/03/09: weblog.200ok.com.au: “putting ie6 out to pasture”
But now, IE8 is out. That puts IE6 two entire versions behind; and companies with IE6-only services have had two years to prepare for the inevitable. Microsoft's recommendation is to upgrade:
(article)Customers who have applications for Internet Explorer 6 should visit http://msdn.microsoft.com/iecompat for the latest guidance on migrating from Internet Explorer 6 to Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8. Internet Explorer 8 Business FAQ (PDF)
- 12/03/09: bringdownie6.com: “Bring Down IE 6: a campaign by .net magazine”
The premise is simple: Internet Explorer 6 is antiquated, doesn’t support key web standards, and should be phased out. This isn’t about being anti-Microsoft, it’s about Microsoft’s lack of development in the browser market. With IE7/8 not available for Windows 2000, IE6 accounts for up to 20% of web usage, primarily via business users. Clients pressure designers to ‘force’ sites to work in IE6, and designers, not wanting to lose business, comply, using hacks and workarounds. This wastes time and money. Microsoft needs to fix this, designers need to unite, and we all need to move on.
(site) - 10/03/09: InfoWorld: “Is IE8 the end of the line for Internet Explorer?”
IE8 is the last version of the Internet Explorer Web browser. At least, that's what I'm hearing through the grapevine. It seems that Microsoft is preparing to throw in the towel on its Internet Explorer engine once and for all. And just what will be its replacement? I’m getting conflicting stories on that one. Some are still claiming that Microsoft will go with WebKit, which, thanks to the popularity of Apple's Safari browser and also Google's Chrome, is rapidly becoming a de facto standard for all non-IE and non-Firefox implementations.
(read the full article) Also... The Inquirer: "Microsoft to kill off Internet Explorer" thegadgetblog.com: "Microsoft Rumored to Kill Off Internet Explorer" - 09/03/09: cloudave.com: “Getting Rid of IE6 - the Campaign Continues”
The initial IE6-campaign was started by a tweet from Finn.no (Norwegian version of eBay) employee Erlend Schei and according to the browser stats for Finn.no IE6 has gone from a near peak of 19% down to 17%. For digi.no IE6 declined roughly 15% in just two weeks. So, yes it can be done!
(article) - 06/03/09: journaldugeek.com: “Firefox 3 passe devant IE 6″
A en croire StatCounter en tout cas, Firefox 3 aurait été utilisé par 24% des internautes lors du mois de février 2009, alors qu’Internet Explorer dans sa version 6 n’aurait été utilisé “que” par 22.6% des internautes…
(article) - 05/03/09: webpronews.com: “Firefox 3 Catches Internet Explorer 6″
Mozilla Firefox 3 surpassed Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 for the first time in February, according to monthly data from StatCounter. Internet Explorer 7 continues to lead worldwide with 41 percent market share but Firefox 3 is now in second place with 24 percent market share.
(read the full article) - 04/03/09: electronista.com: “Firefox eclipses IE6 in web share, threatens IE7″
The open source browser climbed to 24 percent of users in February while IE6 dipped to just over 22.6 percent, making Firefox the second most popular browser by individual version.
(article) - 23/02/09: blogs.msdn.com/xweb: “Phasing out Internet Explorer 6 “
This is Paul Laberge, Web Platform Advisor for Microsoft Canada. I wanted to share this with you as it shows some great work by Morten Rand-Hendriksen, an Expression Web MVP out of Vancouver. Morten is a web designer and feels the pain of supporting multiple browsers (and multiple versions of each browser) when building a web solution for his clients. As a result of this, he’s decided to take an idea that was implemented in one of the news sites from his home country of Norway and implement it for his own sites.
He believes that IE6 is a browser that ought to be retired given IE7 is out and since IE8 will be available very soon.
(article) - 03/02/09: britoweb.net: “Parts de marché des navigateurs (janvier 2009)”
Internet Explorer 6 baisse à 18,5 % de parts de marché. (...) Internet Explorer 6 passe sous la barre des 20 %, atteignant 19,21 % de parts de marché.
(article) - 01/02/09: Asa Dotzler: “january market share report”
At the rate it's falling, we'll surely see I.E.6 dip below 10% by the end of 2009. It can't happen soon enough. In addition to the sharp decline of I.E. 6, Microsoft isn't having a lot of luck with I.E. 7 either. It's been basically flat at about 47% for the last six months. We'll have to wait and see if I.E. 8 is enough to get them back some momentum.
(article) - 03/01/09: lesnumeriques.com: “Google joue au troll anti-IE6″
Les utilisateurs d'IE6 voient donc maintenant Gmail leur proposer de changer de navigateur : «les navigateurs deviennent plus rapides et efficaces pour exécuter des applications web comme Gmail qui utilisent leur technologie à ses limites. Pour profiter au mieux de Gmail et en moyenne doubler sa rapidité, nous vous suggérons de passer à l'un des navigateurs soutenus par Gmail les plus rapides pour Windows.»
(article)
Those who fight
- 11/05/09: ripie6.com: “RIP IE6″
RIPIE6 is the obituary notice of Internet Explorer 6's death. It's a message for all users who still use that "browser". RIPIE6 is designed exactly for those old-fashioned people who don't see the point of updating their software.
(site) - 05/05/09: doteduguru.com: “Put a Fork In It, It’s Done”
I work in a one man web office that supports our 26,000 page site, and it made it very easy for me to simply say that I cannot take the time to deal with IE6. I’ve gotten dirty looks, yes. I’ve gotten an angryish e-mail or two, sure. But we just deal with it and move ahead. It’s a resource issue, and I simply don’t have the time to stop and test every little thing in it and deal with its quirks and flaws for 11% of our audience (A number that’s fallen by 50% the past year. See, aren’t analytics fun!).
(article) - 30/04/09: hancockwildlifechannel.org: “Open Letter to an Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) User”
You have IE6 on your machine - and Microsoft as well as the anti-virus vendors are no longer fully supporting it because it has a lot of security holes in it. They were there when it was designed and fixing it is not an option. Microsoft chose to replace it with IE7 and now they're at the point where they're strongly suggesting (using their auto update system as of 2 days ago) that people update to IE8, which again has even more security designed in from the beginning. If you can't use a newer version of Internet Explorer, then please download and use the free browser Firefox - we strongly recommend using it in any case. The bottom line is, our new software is protecting us - and letting you know why. We can't change our software You should.
(article) - 28/04/09: blog.xero.com: “IE6 is no longer supported”
For the past several months we’ve also been displaying a warning to people who login to Xero using IE6 (at the time, less than 10% of traffic to the app) that says “Although you will be able to continue to log into Xero using IE6, we no longer provide support for this browser.” With the release of IE8, we felt it’s time to officially phase out support for IE6.
(article) - 28/04/09: jasonhaberman.com: “IE 6 Needs to Die”
I ask each and every one of you to do this. If you are using IE, please click up on the “help” button at the top of the browser, go to “About Internet Explorer” and that will pop open a window. A version number will be listed there. If it starts with “Version:6.0…” for the love of all that is holy, please please please please please please please please please update your browser. Even one fewer IE6 user will make the world a better place.
(article) - 28/04/09: human3rror.com: “Sorry IE6.0…”
I’m so tempted to blast IE6 users in the face for accessing my sites with such a deprecated browser… If you want, do the following: 1. Open header.php 2. Put this code anywhere between the and tags: <!–[if lte IE 6]> <STYLE>@;/* <![endif]–> 3. Laugh as any IE6 users who try to read your blog will have insta-crash.
(article) - 14/04/09: sitepoint.com: “10 Cool Things We’ll Be Able To Do Once IE6 Is Dead”
Inevitably, there will come a time when IE6 has a sufficiently minor audience that we can treat it like we did Netscape 4 a few years ago — as legacy technology that it no longer behoves us to support, and its remaining users as willfully stubborn individuals whom we’re not required to pander to any longer! (...) Anyway, by my estimation, the day is approximately 12 months away when we’ll be able to kiss a fond goodbye to IE6 support forever. And when that day comes, here are some useful things we’ll be able to do that we couldn’t really do on mainstream sites before
(article) - 14/04/09: elliottkember.com: “Pulp Browsers “
Then you know what I'm saying. Describe what border-radius looks like! What? Say "what" again. Say "what" again! I dare you! I double-dare you, motherfucker! Say "what" one more goddamn time!
(link) - 05/04/09: ie6update.com: “Help kill Internet Explorer 6″
IE6 Update looks like IE’s Information Bar, but instead of offering your visitors an ActiveX plugin, it offers a browser update.
(site) - 24/03/09: typesett.com: “Farewell IE6 - It’s Been Craptastic”
With the debut of Internet Explorer 8 and the overall leading market share of IE7 — we will begin to see IE6 erode into history at a much quicker pace. Yes, let’s all praise the Lord for second. Done? Ok — IE6 came out roughly around September 2001, and has been driving web developers nuts ever since. Just last week, I cursed it’s foul name as I had to debug a problem that only surfaced in it’s vile window. Before we officially warn you about the door hitting your ass on the way out, let’s reminisce about some of the bad times we had...
(article) - 24/03/09: websitestyle.com: “Hello IE8, Goodbye IE6″
Unfortunately, some people aren’t ready to let go. We have to give them incentive to upgrade (free!) to a better browser. People aren’t going to stop using something until it stops working - so let’s make it happen. If websites start to look like junk in the IE6 browser - maybe people will consider upgrading.
(article) - 24/03/09: benjaminsterling.com: “IE6 Support”
At my company we are currently discussing the best approach that will both keep the client happy at the same time forcing people to upgrade their expectations of a browser. Some thoughts have been to charge a premium to support IE6 - whether this is a percentage of total expect hours for a project or a flat rate based on the requirements , the difference being building with IE6 in mind compared to progressive enhancements after the fact.
(article) - 21/03/09: crisp.tweakblogs.net: “IE6: exit”
Tweakers.net has a quite simple support criterium when it comes to browsers: we actively support all current major versions (current as in public releases, not alpha- or beta-versions) and the major version before that. E.g. for Firefox this means we support version 3 and version 2; when version 3.5 comes out we will drop active support for version 2.x. So now that IE8 is the current major version of Internet Explorer, by our policy, we are finally able to drop support for IE6!
(article) - 21/03/09: blog.particls.com: “IE6 is the new Netscape 4″
IE6 while once the browser to which all others were bench marked, is now, frankly the bane of an Internet Start up’s existence. It might have been great once, but all good things must come to an end, and for IE6, that time is now. For Faraday Media, IE6 support has never been a priority, since our users and visitors are overwhelmingly Firefox users, so unofficially, we’d already been on this bandwagon. Today, it’s official.
(article) - 21/03/09: sevenup: “Help rid the world of IE6 with one line of javascript!”
When viewed in IE6 or older, a pure-CSS lightbox pops up, suggesting that the user upgrade their outdated web browser. When NOT viewed in IE6/older, the user has no idea the script is there. You can either require the upgrade, or let them through with a warning.
(site) - 18/03/09: hugsformonsters.com: “Overly Judgemental IE6 Splash Pages”
While working on this site, I made jokes to Mike Yuan about having really confrontational splash pages for anybody that visited the site using IE6.
(article) - 17/03/09: silktidestudios.com: “Phasing out support for Internet Explorer 6″
As of Monday 30th March we will be phasing out support for the Internet Explorer 6 browser. This means that while we will continue to ensure that the websites we build are still available for site visitors using this browser, we cannot guarantee that they will look or function in the same way as more modern browsers.
(article) - 16/03/09: georgechang.net: “a declaration of war against internet explorer 6″
Representing fellow web developers and web surfers alike: We hereby declare war on Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, also known as “IE6″. Our people have been suppressed under your tyrannical rule for the previous 8 years, and still many of our more ignorant and incompetent brothers are deceived by your aging technology. It is our determination that we can no longer withstand your oppressive hold on our people, forcing our developers to tirelessly accommodate for your lack of adherence to even the most basic of CSS2 standards.
(article) - 13/03/09: simplebits.com: “How I Might Deal with IE6″
Eight years ago (almost to the day), Jeffrey Zeldman wrote, "To Hell With Bad Browsers", signaling the dawning of “The CSS Age”. Explaining how the use of
(article)@importfor referencing stylesheets is ignored by Netscape 4, was an important step in shedding away the problems related to supporting an ancient browser. Eight. Years. (...) Now, in 2009, IE6 has become the source of our frustrations — and for certain sites, giving it an unstyled, naked view is exactly what I want to do. Alpha-channel PNGs,min-width,max-width, rendering bugs galore — there are plenty of sites I’ve designed and maintain where the IE6 stats are low enough to drop the axe and move on. Now is the time! - 13/03/09: cristian.gimmicklab.com: “Stop pixel perfection for Internet Explorer 6″
At our main site we are not IE6 friendly so if you try to access you will get an explanation page and different links to upgrade your browser. Since it’s our site we can decide whatever we like, and here we had chosen a radical approach blocking page views trying to educate our clients convincing them for an upgrade. For our clients site we take a different approach. The site should run and performance as it’s supposed to but we stopped spending hours and hours trying to force IE6 to style the page correctly. No more pixel perfection for Internet Explorer, no spending 10% of project time fixing IE6 bugs, not anymore.
(read the full article) - 13/03/09: hannush.com: “Who Still Uses Internet Explorer 6?”
Will the soon to be released Internet Explorer 8 change that trend and finally kill IE6? Most likely not. The biggest reason is the economy. Companies don’t have the funds to re-engineer old software tied to IE6.
(read the full article) - 13/03/09: TheBuckmaker.com: “Send your Internet Explorer 6 to NIRVANA”
I’ve started displaying the following image to all users of the Zombie-Browser IE6 (Internet Explorer 6) instead of working around all the problems, bugs and issues the old MS Internet flagship causes...
(read the full article) - 12/03/09: bringdownie6.com: “Bring Down IE 6: a campaign by .net magazine”
The premise is simple: Internet Explorer 6 is antiquated, doesn’t support key web standards, and should be phased out. This isn’t about being anti-Microsoft, it’s about Microsoft’s lack of development in the browser market. With IE7/8 not available for Windows 2000, IE6 accounts for up to 20% of web usage, primarily via business users. Clients pressure designers to ‘force’ sites to work in IE6, and designers, not wanting to lose business, comply, using hacks and workarounds. This wastes time and money. Microsoft needs to fix this, designers need to unite, and we all need to move on.
(site) - 11/03/09: elliotttt.tumblr.com
Supporting Internet Explorer 6 in 2009 is like making a Blu-Ray player that is compatible with VHS tapes.
(link) - 09/03/09: divwhisperer.com: “Why IE6 Needs to Die and How to Kill It”
August 15, 2001 was a horrible day. It has now been almost nine years since Internet Explorer 6 was released upon an unsuspecting world. Products like the Hummer, Xbox, even Google AdSense are younger than IE6. IE6 is younger than the War on Terror.
(article) - 09/03/09: hens-teeth.net: “Moving Past Internet Explorer 6″
We have inserted code into our own web sites which displays a warning like the green box you see here to anyone using IE6. We are also beginning to insert this code into our clients’ sites because, 2 1/2 years after IE7 was released, it is time to move past IE6.
(article) - 04/03/09: ithemes.com: “Internet Explorer 6 and WordPress Themes”
Although we currently code and support our themes for use in IE6, IE7, FireFox, and Safari, at some point, we’ll be phasing out support for IE6 altogether. But we realize that a lot of our customers are also web developers who have clients who STILL use this browser, so we’re still committed to fixing theme bugs as it relates to IE6.
(read the full article) - 04/03/09: mycee.net: “Kill Internet Explorer 6 once and for all!”
That is exactly what I’m doing on this blog (and soon the rest of the site), if somebody is using Internet Explorer 6 or older, I give them a big fat warning
(read the full article) - 27/02/09: drupal.org: “IE6 Warning module”
IE6 warning displays a block exhorting IE6 users to upgrade their browsers. The block is displayed on every page, but the user can close it with a link on the top right corner of the block. Upon closing the block, a cookie is set so that the block doesn't show anymore.
(page) - 21/02/09: stoplivinginthepast.com: “Join the Movement to Phase Out Internet Explorer 6. Forever.”
You know that neighbour down the street that drives an old beat up truck that spews black soot and wakes up the entire neighbourhood on Saturday mornings because his exhaust is broken? Well, if you’re still using Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) as your browser, you are that guy.
(site) - 21/02/09: romy.tetue.net: “À mort Internet Explorer 6 !”
Faut-il arrêter de coder pour Internet Explorer 6 ? OUI ! Cessons de développer pour ce navigateur qui n’a bénéficié d’aucune mise à jour depuis 2004 ! Nous avons mieux à faire que de continuer à assurer la compatibilité avec cette antiquité, à perdre notre temps à contourner ses bugs, à nous limiter pour ne pas être confrontés à ses incapacités, alors que s’ouvrent d’autres horizons qui réclament notre attention, notamment celui du web mobile.
C’est terminé : je cesse d’assurer la compatibilité pour Internet Explorer 6
(article) - 20/02/09: zzz.rezo.net: “Campagne pour l’éradication d’IE 6″
De nombreux sites Internet norvégiens viennent de lancer une campagne d’information visant à éradiquer Internet Explorer 6, ce navigateur obsolète mais encore très utilisé, qui ruine la vie des webmestres et empêche les utilisateurs de tirer le meilleur parti d’Internet. Comme eux, nous pensons qu’il est temps de tourner la page !
(article) - 18/02/09: haineault.com: “Why IE6 is not dead yet”
Of course backward compatibility is important and we shouldn't neglect it, but to witch extent ? Is windows XP compatible with DirectX 5 ? I think that at some point web developers lost sight of what backward compatibility is for. They seems to have lost the notion that it's only a transitional stage. By making it permanent we've sold our soul and became enslaved by obsolete technologies.
(article) - 18/02/09: ie6.forteller.net: “IE6: Do Not Want campaign”
This is all about the campaign to rid the WWW of Internet Explorer 6 that has devastated web developers and held back the evolution of everything that blocks the tubes for far too long. This can not go on any longer! Off with its head!
(site) - 13/02/09: kryogenix.org: “IE6’s backlash”
A point to remember here: no-one (well, no-one serious) is suggesting that IE6 users get a site which says “you are using IE6: bugger off.” Instead, the suggestion really is that IE6 get the same treatment as Netscape 4: it gets the unenhanced version of your sites.
(article) - 09/02/09: robertnyman.com: “Stop developing for Internet Explorer 6″
One of the main problems and reasons Internet Explorer 6 still lives is due to Intranet web sites built on non-standardized code that still linger around, and they are afraid of updating since it might break existing functionality. The only reasonable way forward is to offer those customers the possibility to run multiple versions of Internet Explorer on their computers: one version 6 for their Intranet, and one version 7 or 8 for browsing the web. While Microsoft states that it’s impossible or strongly not recommended to run multiple versions of Internet Explorer, TredoSoft have with their Multiple IE project proven that it is achievable for most people, and it has also become the de facto way for Interface Developers to test web sites in different versions of Internet Explorer. If Microsoft were to release a tool themselves to do just this, I’m convinced many many companies would dare taking the plunge and do an upgrade.
(article) - 09/02/09: robertnyman.com: “Stop developing for Internet Explorer 6″
My estimate is, from looking at my own work and analyzing the results of other Web Developers I currently or previously have worked with, or friends I know in the business, we spend about an extra, on average, 20% of development time to cater to Internet Explorer 6. This means that for every $ 1 000 000 spent in the world on developing a web site interface, it could have cost $ 800 000 instead. In my mind, I believe that we Web Developers as well as our customers have spent far too much valuable time and money on fixing something in an eight-year old product; in what other category does such old consumer software still get support?
(article) - 03/01/09: lesnumeriques.com: “Google joue au troll anti-IE6″
Les utilisateurs d'IE6 voient donc maintenant Gmail leur proposer de changer de navigateur : «les navigateurs deviennent plus rapides et efficaces pour exécuter des applications web comme Gmail qui utilisent leur technologie à ses limites. Pour profiter au mieux de Gmail et en moyenne doubler sa rapidité, nous vous suggérons de passer à l'un des navigateurs soutenus par Gmail les plus rapides pour Windows.»
(article) - 01/01/09: stopie6.org: “Stop IE6 campaign - A campaign devoted to wiping IE6 off the web”
This is not an anti-Microsoft or an anti-IE-all versions campaign, nor an endorsement of some specific non-MS browser. This site is aimed at convincing people to dismiss their old, obsolete, buggy browser (the actual list of defects goes on and on). Which browser you're wondering. Internet Explorer 6! Who else? Right, its prior versions too. So, if you or somebody you know are using any version of Internet Explorer prior to 7, this site is just for you.
(site) - 01/01/09: adido-solutions.com: “IE6: Flogging a Dead Horse”
Why? Well I started thinking on the topic last week, when Google released Chrome. Along with IE6, IE7, Firefox and Safari, this makes 5 browsers for developers to test their websites in. On top of that, IE8 is on the horizon and will add even more testing to the mix. As a result, development costs for websites steadily increase. Clearly the most volatile of the above line-up is IE6. The question is, when is it ok to stop supporting it? The day Microsoft releases a full working copy of Internet Explorer 8. At this point I intend in my personal projects to stop supporting IE6 for anything more than functionality. If the page “looks” broken in IE6 but still works, I will point my users to a small icon in the page saying “made for IE7 or greater”. Similar icons have been used in the past to explain to users why the page appears broken, and hopefully my users will say to themselves “maybe I should upgrade”. After all, IE7 is a free upgrade, and comes as standard in Windows Vista. But until developers stop catering for IE6, many users won’t bother to upgrade, since they don’t notice the difference.
(article) - 01/01/09: iedeathmarch.org: “We *Like* Our Internet With a Side of Revolution”
Internet Explorer 6 will be SEVEN years old on August 27th. It came out a few weeks before the Twin Towers fell. It came out before the Nintendo GameCube. It came out before the first iPod. It’s time to put a deadline on dropping IE6, and I say that time is now, and the deadline should be soon… say like, March 2009. That’s roughly a little more than 6 months.
(site) - 01/01/09: Firefox Flag: “Dump totalitatian monopolized proprietary Internet Explorer”Students flag during the 2005 Hong-Kong WTO conference. (Flickr)
- 01/01/09: browsesad.com: “Browse Sad”
Browse Sad is our last-resort try, some kind of a fight back for years of our hours spent on “debugging” IE6’s CSS interpretation. Over the years there have been hundreds of tries on IE6’s life. Even Microsoft tried to kill it with their free update to IE7 (yes, it is free to install it, even on illegal Windows machines). Neither has been fully successful. Hopefully until now. We want to force IE6 users to either change their browser or even update to its newer version by making their web surfing dull and sad. ;-)
(site) - 01/01/09: 37signals: “Phasing out support for IE 6 across all 37signals products on August 15, 2008″
Why are we making this change? IE 6 is a last-generation browser. This means that IE 6 can't provide the same web experience that modern browsers can. Continued support of IE 6 means that we can't optimize our interfaces or provide an enhanced customer experience in our apps. Supporting IE 6 means slower progress, less progress, and, in some places, no progress. We want to make sure the experience is the best it can be for the vast majority of our customers, and continuing to support IE 6 holds us back.
(article) - 01/01/09: chisa.deviantart.com: “Internet Explorer plush voodoo”
This may seem a bit evil, but trust me, if you're a web designer and have ever tried to get something to work nicely in Internet Explorer (especially <6) you'll understand the feeling of wanting to stab it. Repeatedly.
(image) - 01/01/09: stopie6.com: “Stop Internet Explorer 6″
The goal of Stop IE6 is simple: Convince as many people as possible to stop using Internet Explorer 6. (...) We have designed several widgets which you can embed on your site to help spread the word. These widgets are only shown to Internet Explorer 6 users.
(site) - 01/01/09: dearie6.com: “So long”
We think IE6 has run its course, so do many others as you can see. This is a place for you to say your parting words to IE6, and bid it farewell goodbye.
(site) - 01/01/09: crashie.ajaxmasters.com: “Crash IE: Kill Bill’s browser”
This is a page made for IE6 and it will show IE6 vurnerabilities you can try it with the other browsers too * and you will see that nothing happens.
(article) - 01/01/09: browsehappy.com: “Online. Worry-free”
Internet Explorer can make your computer unsafe. Why not switch to a browser that's more secure? Many already have. Read their stories, and choose a browser that's right for you.
(site) - 01/01/09: end6.org: “Make the Net a happier place”
Yes, Internet Explorer 6 was amazing... in 2001. Fast forward to 2009 and not only is Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) still here, but now it's even more disastrous: * Security holes that are never quite patched. * It crashes. * The CSS model for it is completely worthless. * Big workarounds for Flash * No tabbed browsing and we all know how much we love our tabs!
(site)
Latest stats
- 01/04/09: Statcounter stats for March 2009IE6 is lowest on week-ends (19.03% on Sunday 22nd), and highest on week-days (23.25% on Friday 27th). Firefox 3.0 is always higher than IE6, but its stats evolution are inverse to IE6's: Firefox is highest on week-ends (28.21% on Sunday 29th) and lowest on week-days (24.10% on Friday 27th - just 0.85 points higher than IE6 on the same day. While this demonstrates that the biggest fight against IE6 will be made within compagnies, the variations for IE6 on week-end are too small (less than 4%) to claim victories on the mindset. People are still stuck with old version of Windows, or pirated ones that won't access Windows update... Since Vista is a failure, people are keeping their pirated WinXP, and therefore their IE6. Windows 7 might be our only hope. With any luck we will see IE6's variations grow stronger and stronger on week-ends, until we can safely say People have finally ditched that version for themselves. Only then we might see a change of policies in companies. (stats)
- 31/03/09: techradar.com: “Firefox 3.0 is Europe’s most popular browser”
"The move is partly explained by a small switch from IE 7.0 usage to IE 8.0 but also by growing market share overall by Firefox 3.0," said Cullen.
(article) - 19/03/09: blog.mozilla.com: “What is Firefox’s Market Share?”
In recent weeks, we’ve seen either major updates or new launches from a couple significant sources of browser market share. Thus, we thought this would be a good opportunity to provide a high-level overview of a few sources that are out there, what their samples look like, and the ability of each to slice and dice data. (...) from Gemius: MSIE 6.x : 22.2% for March 16th, 2009 from Net Applications: Internet Explorer 6: 18.85% for February 2009 from StatCounter: IE6: 20.68% on March 28th, 2009 from AT Internet Institute (Xiti): IE6: roughly 19.17% in January 2009
(article) - 06/03/09: journaldugeek.com: “Firefox 3 passe devant IE 6″
A en croire StatCounter en tout cas, Firefox 3 aurait été utilisé par 24% des internautes lors du mois de février 2009, alors qu’Internet Explorer dans sa version 6 n’aurait été utilisé “que” par 22.6% des internautes…
(article) - 03/02/09: britoweb.net: “Parts de marché des navigateurs (janvier 2009)”
Internet Explorer 6 baisse à 18,5 % de parts de marché. (...) Internet Explorer 6 passe sous la barre des 20 %, atteignant 19,21 % de parts de marché.
(article) - 01/02/09: Asa Dotzler: “january market share report”
At the rate it's falling, we'll surely see I.E.6 dip below 10% by the end of 2009. It can't happen soon enough. In addition to the sharp decline of I.E. 6, Microsoft isn't having a lot of luck with I.E. 7 either. It's been basically flat at about 47% for the last six months. We'll have to wait and see if I.E. 8 is enough to get them back some momentum.
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