2001: An Internet Explorer 6 odyssey

Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) was released in 2001 shortly after the completion of Windows XP. For its time; it was a relatively respectable browser and at its peak, commanded a total market share of nearly 90%. However, as we approach 2011 (and IE6’s 10th birthday), is it not time that individuals, companies and organisations, who are still using IE6, start looking into upgrading?

In short the answer is yes, most definitely, as there are huge benefits of doing so; but let's explore this further...

Old-hat

Nine years is a long time, especially in terms of the Internet. In the UK during 2001, our ears were savaged by number one singles such as Hear Say's "Pure and Simple" and S Club 7's "Don't Stop Movin" (of which Rockpool Account Executive Michael Thompson owns both on CD and vinyl).

Let's compare that with the Internet and its associated technologies, which probably improve at a rate of at least ten-times faster than the quality of music in the UK charts:

2001	2010
CSS1 / CSS2 (of which IE6 has limited support)	CSS2.1 / CSS3
HTML / XHTML 1.1	HTML 5
Table-based web design	CSS-based web design separating content from design and behaviour
Widescale dial-up Internet use	Widescale broadband coverage
	WEB 2.0
	Mobile web browsing
	AJAX / JavaScript heavy web solutions
	Fully web-based applications
	Streaming of HD content over the web
	Modern and defined web standards

Even if you don't understand all of the above terminology, it's easy to appreciate that web-based technologies and standards have come a long way since 2001. So where does that leave IE6?

A trail of dust

• Like any old software, IE6 tends to be slow in rendering new, demanding web-based applications and websites - this is largely due to an outdated JavaScript engine
• It lacks any support of new web standards (namely HTML 5 and CSS3) that aim to provide exciting, accessible and improved experiences for web users
• It fails to provide basic features, such as the support of transparent images and is littered with display bugs which make developing and maintaining a good-looking site that works in IE6 a very time consuming, costly and sometimes near-impossible process
• Time has left it very vulnerable and full of security holes, leaving some publications to label it as the "least secure software on the planet"

Fortunately most consumers are now either becoming wise to the fact that they have a choice and opting for other more standards compliant, future-ready (and still free) web browsers such as Mozilla's Firefox and Google's Chrome. In addition, Microsoft users are being encouraged by developers and Microsoft themselves to upgrade to a more recent version of Internet Explorer (at time of writing version 8 and 9 Platform preview).

Sadly, this is often not the case for large corporations and government agencies...

Too expensive to upgrade

Let's take recent events in the UK government as an example.

Six months ago, an online petition started in the hope that it could abolish all use of IE6 by UK governmental agencies. This petition debuted after both the German and French governments began advising their citizens to use a different browser other than Internet Explorer in response to the Chinese-Google hack attack.

It failed... Here is a section of the UK government's official response:

"It is not straightforward for HMG departments to upgrade IE versions on their systems. Upgrading these systems to IE8 can be a very large operation, taking weeks to test and roll out to all users. To test all the web applications currently used by HMG departments can take months at significant potential cost to the taxpayer. It is therefore more cost effective in many cases to continue to use IE6 and rely on other measures, such as firewalls and malware scanning software, to further protect public sector internet users."

On many levels this response makes a lot of sense and it is a feeling often shared by many large corporations with internal systems that are built to run specifically on IE6 (we have Microsofts monopoly of the browser market in 2001 to thank for this).

Look to the future though and this attitude is simply not sustainable. In a very accommodating move, Microsoft has promised to support Internet Explorer 6 until April 2014. But, and this is the big point; after that you're on your own.

Have you discovered a new high-level security threat in Internet Explorer 6 that threatens the integrity of your business? Not Microsoft's problem anymore. That's why it is important that corporations and governmental agencies start making the switch away from IE6 sooner rather than later. Oh and to put my developer hat back on, it will mean that web content can freely become more semantic, accessible, exciting, engaging and powerful!