As a website development firm that wants our clients to be well looked after, we are often concerned when we discover clients still using Internet Explorer 6.
If you have come across this article because you use Internet Explorer 6 and someone has told you that you should upgrade to a newer version, then please, just upgrade to the newer version now!
Some background information is available about Internet Explorer 6 here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer_6
Internet Explorer 6 is a problem both for the security of your Windows computer, and for web developers, primarily because it’s so old. It was made in 2001, almost 10 years ago.
“10 years?” I hear you say, “that’s not that old.”
Certainly from a timeline of modern inventions no, it’s not.
On a timeline of when the modern desktop computer was invented, it seems a lot older. And scale that down to the age of YouTube, Facebook and the iPhone and Internet Explorer 6 is as old as time.
So why is it so important to get rid of it?
Because the relative age of IE 6 is so old, that it has become a thorn in the side of web developers. Any new or interesting features or functionality you want on your website won’t work on IE 6. For web developers, building a great website can mean having to build a great website, and then a version in IE 6. Which is why we no longer support this in our development for clients unless it’s absolutely critical.
Worse than being a problem for web developers, it’s also a major issue for you. Not only do you get an ugly web browsing experience, you also get a web browser that is no longer maintained. Any new threats are not covered – you’re not protected against them. You might as well stick your credit card to a shop window and let someone take it – the potential risks are severe.
When I started using the internet, I used Netscape as it was the only one I knew how to get access to. If you wanted to download a file from a website – say a PDF file – you had to stay doing that the entire time until it was done – if you browsed to another web page the download would stop and you would have to start all over again. Of course in those days downloading a file was a major process and took hours instead of seconds, sometimes.
Now we have the benefit of browsers with all sorts of tools and widgets – you can download and upload and browse 30 websites in separate tabs or windows or screens if you want. If you want more, or different features in your web browsing experience, you have dozens of choices. Or, you can use several at the same time to take advantage of different benefits. But most of all, you now have choice. And there is no reason for you to be using Internet Explorer 6. At its peak of popularity, Internet Explorer 6 was used by 90% of web users. Now that number is down to about 10-20% depending on which website you visit, but my own opinion is that number is about 10%. And it’s dropping quickly – the only reason people still use it is because they’re not forced to upgrade by anyone, or that their organisation uses an ancient legacy system that needs replacing anyway – if it only runs on Internet Explorer 6.
Did you know many websites now advise people using IE 6 that they do not support this browser anymore? Or, they simply block access.
So please, if you haven’t upgraded your Internet Explorer 6 to a new version, please do it now. Because IE 6 isn’t going to be the death of me!
