Internet Explorer 6 is notoriously unpopular, and is widely regarded as the browser that’s holding the web back. Now Microsoft themselves have joined the effort to rid the world of the browser.
For the end-user of the browser this may not always seems like much of a problem, as developers go through extra effort to make their websites look as flashy and work as well in the antiquated browser, but it is clear that the browser’s days are numbered. Google announced their intention to stop supporting the browser, and about a year Google Docs and Google Sites phased out support for IE6. Even Facebook decided to drop support for chat on IE6.
[RELATED_ARTICLE]Microsoft had earlier gone so far as to say “Friends don’t let friends use IE6“, but now they have launched an entire campaign. They have created a new website – http://www.ie6countdown.com/ – which as Microsoft says is “dedicated to watching Internet Explorer 6 usage drop to less than 1% worldwide, so more websites can choose to drop support for Internet Explorer 6, saving hours of work for web developers.”
As HTML is improving and evolving, it is becoming even more important that we use a browser that conforms to the latest standards. And Internet Explorer 6 is not that browser. It is a 10-year old software, and in the world of technology ten is a few too many years past its lifetime.