Don’t Like IE6, Save Corporate America
I am so happy this issue is getting outside the realm of web developers. Woah, People Really Don’t Like IE6. As a developer I too can not stand spending ANY extra time having to accommodate IE6. I understand that I need to achieve this task because many of our customers clients and target audiences are still using IE6. I understand that 15% of web browsers, as of June are still dragging their feet with IE6.
My question is, who are these people, and should they really be afforded the internet? Robin Wauters of TechCrunch says “Of course, the main reason why IE6 is still being used at all is because of corporate IT departments across the globe needing to make upgrade decisions.” (If you are still on IE6 at home, you’ve got no one to blame but yer-self!)
If this is true, then why do we keep accommodating IE6. Theoretically, if we stopped developing sites to work in IE6, wouldn’t we be improving the productivity of corporate America, and probably all the state work forces across the country? By making IE6 defunct, wouldn’t corporate America be stuck spending more time on the jobs they are paid to do than on the www?
Someone with money to burn should do a study on this.
Here are some links for some other haters! Why IE6 isn’t dead yet, and how you can twist the knife. (This one goes into much further detail than I am willing to write!), IE6Update.com, “Hey IT”, Facebook group and the sneaky SaveIE6 ( I love the “Download Wizard!”)
AT the least I hope this post further pushes people toward abandoning IE6.
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Posted by:
Joe Philippon
Email the author:
joep@fathom.net
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Joe –
Thanks for your link. I think you’re misunderstanding the scale of the problem though. It’s not just an ‘upgrade’ decision for IT departments, it’s a “rewrite all our software” decision. These companies have all been developing proprietary and mission-critical software on IE6 that breaks in all other browsers. They made the mistake of treating the browser like a core piece of the OS that would remain constant throughout the years, and it did not.
I’m sure MS would love these companies to redo the software as well, as it’s not just holding up advancements on the web, but it’s holding up OS upgrades as well (can’t run IE6 in Vista or 7, so they’re all still using XP).
Somewhere in here there will have to be a tipping point. The two potential paths I see is that companies give in and spend the requisite millions of dollars to redo their software (difficult to justify in this economy), or MS gives in and makes a version of IE6 that will run on modern OSes, maybe in a self contained virtual container for enterprise customers.
Either way, it’s not a simple fix by any means.
Thanks Brian,
I might not have been totally clear in my post, but I do understand the scale of the problem and why the corporations that rely on it haven’t been willing to upgrade because of the catastrophic bill that awaits them. I’m sure, given the chance, most IT people would be ecstatic to upgrade, but cannot due to the cost involved.
As someone who is involved in the development of websites everyday, I am trying to take a point of view I haven’t heard before (and an attempt at some humor) that developers maybe should not worry about making ever website they build work fully in IE6 anymore, and the inadvertent affects it would have.
Thanks for your comments. I hope this better explains the thoughts in my head when writing my original post.
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