4 replies to this topic

[OysterWings]

Remember those websites where you do one version for every browser out there except IE6 which requires its own version.

http://www.cnn.com/2...x.html?hpt=Sbin

Here is most of the article from CNN.com in case the link does not work:

According to web analytics company StatCounter, Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 is now truly a relic of the past with less than 5 percent market share in the U.S. and Europe.
For years, IE6 caused headaches for developers and prompted many users to switch to alternative browsers. It was full of security holes, and it broke nearly every web standard in the book.
Since it was the default browser on many Windows machines, it was also the dominant browser in the early aughts, reaching 90 percent market share in 2002 and 2003.
Unfortunately, it outstayed its welcome by a good five years, keeping a solid chunk of the market share even after Internet Explorer 7 and 8 were released.
Now, StatCounter's numbers, based on an analysis of 15 billion page views in May 2010, indicate that IE6 usage in the U.S. has fallen to 4.7 percent from 11.5 percent in the last 12 months, meaning that IE6 is finally becoming a footnote in the history of the Internet.

[qwerty]

So long to one lousy browser

[1dmf]

But on the other hand if it wasn't so lousy other browsers wouldn't have got such a foothold or potentially even written!

I'm glad however I don't have to really worry too much about IE6 now, I make my site work in Opera, Firefox, Chrome & IE7/IE8 , those with IE6 need to consider upgrading their browser or their computer or both!

[chrishirst]

The reason for it outstaying it's welcome is definitely a MS "issue".

They locked browser updates for windows 2000, made a complete hash of Windows XP corporate licencing, messed up validation so that many volume licence users were suddenly disabled, then they released a dogs breakfast of an OS with Vista.
Now, finally that they have released an Operating System that IS stable and reliable, with a realistic licencing structure, major companies and corporations are actually safe to upgrade without taking a step back to the days of Windows 9x.

[Scottie]

I know of several large companies that require IE6 (government-based) and have not allowed internal upgrades because they only support a single browser system-wide. Those might not be showing up on massive Internet surveys, but they are out there.

(These are also companies who still rely on Cobol and mainframes.)

In really large organizations, the coordination needed to move all people/apps/configurations/custom bridges to a new browser can be staggering and almost impossible to schedule.

Time for the giants to wake up and move forward...