Comments on: Defending IE6

By: Pota92

Pota92 — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:25:03 +0000

Come on, people have to update many things during the life, so why shouldn’t update a browser, it’s free and take minutes.

I can´t understand how the most known and wealthy software corporation in the world did programed such terrible things.

If your client wants his site works on IE6, the project should be much more expensive.
It’s like trying to see a widescreen movie on a black-and-white TV

By: Laurie

Laurie — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 02:46:13 +0000

I am a freelance web developer and I don’t see anything wrong with encouraging users to upgrade to new browser version. You don’t have to turn them away, but maybe explain that certain applications may not work properly in IE6. I have spent many hours trying to make modern CSS code work for IE6, and it’s very frustrating when it’s just not possible. It’s really not a big deal to upgrade a browser, and it should be encouraged in order for programs to work properly. There also have been many security issues with IE6, so why use it if It’s a piece of CRAP!!! As a web professional, it’s part of MY job to keep up with technology, so why shouldn’t the USERS have to keep up with technology? I refuse to have to use special code in my CSS to make a lousy browser work right!

By: John

John — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:25:20 +0000

Thanks for the article, but IMHO Internet Explorer is a cancer on the web. It should retire just like Netscape.

By: tebogo

tebogo — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:09:57 +0000

Powerful words, and one that should be taken with salt, yes IE6 is the monster but it not the users who deserve to be loaded with the burden. We live in Africa one of the most deprived continent when it comes to information so we the designers/developers should look into educating the user so that we at least can have a new age user that can understand the importance of upgrading they tools that let them surf the net safely and faster.

By: ผลิตภัณฑ์ดูแลรถยนต์

ผลิตภัณฑ์ดูแลรถยนต์ — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 07:37:24 +0000

Hello everyone.
Thank data Defending IE6. That lead to great no thanks. :)

By: Jarod Taylor

Jarod Taylor — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:44:29 +0000

If you think IE6 is today’s problem, how will you deal with IE7, Firefox 2, Safari 3 or similar browser generations a year from now when they fail at rendering your standards-compliant CSS3? Cry foul like a stuck record from a bygone era and demand that your users upgrade once again to meet your standards? No, I didn’t think so.

The difference is most people using Firefox or Safari, are typically users that will actually upgrade/update their browser.

Good article btw!

By: Dragosh

Dragosh — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:07:28 +0000

IE 6 must die!
Users must upgrade, the damn thing is almost 10 years old :)).

Altough a compelling read, it did not change my policies on not supporting IE6 and other devs should join in the hanging of IE6.

However, the articles on progressiv enhancement do make good points on proofing your web site when new browsers apear.

But really, IE6 support in 2009? Get serious.

By: Joe Bloggs

Joe Bloggs — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:56:07 +0000

People are angry at IE6 because it didn’t even attempt to be standards compliant. It in fact tried to break standards as much as possible in order to make life difficult for other, standards compliant browsers on the market and thus enforce MSFT’s ill-gotten monopoly in the browser wars at the time.

IE 6 does not deserve to be supported because it personifies pure evil.

By: Luke Jones

Luke Jones — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:53:06 +0000

Great post, I’ve always argued that supporting Internet Explorer 6 and many browsers is our job and we shouldn’t complain, but lately it seems that fewer and ewer people are using IE6, so I’ve stopped supporting it, I still test it to see if the sites can be read correctly, but when it comes to positioning issues etc, I think the users will see more and more that their browser isn’t doing the right job and hopefully upgrade to IE8, Firefox, Opera or Safari.

Microsoft need to start creating browsers that comply with the standards set with W3C, all they seem to care about is being bigger and better when the only thing they’re doing is creating browsers that people consistently dislike. I don’t have anything against Microsoft and am somewhat of a veteran, beta testing their software (operating systems etc) and defending them, but it’s clear that they need to stop worrying about what a browser looks like, and start conforming to the other standards, not just the aesthetic, but they way they work.

Here’s an idea, stop working on those crappy ideas such as that singing rubbish, stop spending money on developing the next operating system, and work on the software that runs on said operating systems instead.

God, I just got annoyed with myself.

By: Ricardo

Ricardo — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 08:58:28 +0000

And for proper PE minded development, you’d have to start developing for the least capable. Any web developer knows that’s simply impossible – as IE6 does not follow many standards you would be actually breaking your code on all decent browsers. So we’re forced to use graceful degradation instead, writing standards based code and then fixing the holes in IE6. That’s were the problem lies, it’s added cost that could be better invested in improving the UX and not making an old quirky browser behave. Supporting IE6 adds (financial, time and interface-related) limitations, it can’t be “treated” any other way.

Device/browser indepence, yes, but not for the broken ones.