Over my years as a web developer I’ve steadily developed a strong, flaming hatred for Microsoft’s famed IE6. And I know I’m not alone. Why, you ask? You could argue it’s 7 years old. On the web, that’s a whole lot of time. Or you could bitch and moan that it breaks your beautiful, standards compliant web pages. Which is my case, sadly. IE6 dares to blatantly disrespect what the rest of the world has considered right, and it consistently messes things up that you would assume it would get right. Transparent PNG support is just one of those things.
So, we have on our hands a clunky, old piece of software, one that is severely lacking in the features department according to its more modern competitors, and one whose primary function, rendering web pages, is so incredibly bad it physically hurts. Against all odds, though, it still holds a 24.5% market share. If we bundle IE7 along (which is not nearly as offensive, yet still not awesome by any standard), Microsoft dominates roughly 50% of the web market.
What the hell? What reasons could possibly explain the widespread using of such a lame browser?
- My work pc doesn’t have anything else, and they won’t let me install stuff - Well, ask your IT manager to please upgrade software a little more regularly. If he refuses to do so, you better start job hunting, because your company can’t possibly survive much longer with such negligent IT staff.
- IE6 just came with my computer, and I didn’t know there were other browsers! - It’s fine if you’re not running the latest Firefox nightly, really. Just turn on Automatic Updates! You’ll automatically get IE7, no work needed!
- I’m used to IE6, and I can’t possibly adjust to anything new - This might actually be a good excuse, I know adjusting to new software can be a real pain. However, why not just try a few of the alternatives out there?
If there’s a reason I’m wishing for Windows Vista to become the new consumer market staple (as opposed to Windows XP) is that at least most people will be running Internet Explorer 7. If IE6 was dropped and allowed to die, the web would be a better place. Really, think about it. Developers would spend less time debugging things they shouldn’t need to debug in the first place, and concentrate on delivering high-quality fully featured apps, and the final users would benefit greatly from the added functionality they would get because of that.
So, what do you think about IE6? Should it stay, should it go?
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