Some Thoughts On Internet Explorer 6
I have a serious question for the 10% of you who visit this site and are still running IE 6. I’m not trying to mock anyone, nor pass judgment. I’m simply curious.
Why are you still using IE 6?
I get that about half of you seem to be running Windows 2000, so IE 7 isn’t an option. However, that means the other half of you are running IE 6 on Windows XP.
So what gives?
As a web developer this concerns me because making sites work in IE 6 takes up an inordinate amount of my day. It’s the oldest browser that still has any real user base. Which seems strange, given that it has a number of unpatched security holes. Add to that the fact that there are many free alternatives, including IE 7, and I just don’t understand.
This blog is highly technical. Are there actually people who are interested in my content and run IE 6, or are these hits from some sort of bot?
If you are running IE 6 you should be aware that software companies are beginning to phase it out. 37signals has announced that they will be discontinuing support for IE 6 as of October 1st of this year, citing a lack of desire to “invest significant time or resources into making sure we are backward compatible with IE 6″.
So do yourself and us poor developers a favor and grab yourself a brand new, shiny, secure, and free browser upgrade soon. You’ll thank me later, and I’ll thank you in advance.
Large companies with a plethora of ‘puters take inordinate amounts of time and money to upgrade browsers: labor, time, and training all play a part. As the IT department is typically the most relatively underfunded department at most places, many emergency solutions are implemented firstly and foremostly, like server upgrades and software packages for key users.
I agree that a lot of IT departments are strapped for time. However, IT departments should understand better than anyone the unpatched security problems that IE 6 represents.