If you mention 'Internet Explorer 6' within earshot of a website designer it's highly likely they will break into a cold sweat and will possibly need medical attention. Internet Explorer if you are not already aware is a 'web browser' - usually free and freely available software you use on your computer to browse the web.

Since 2001 Internet Explorer 6 (or IE6) has been the bane of a web designers life. Entirely different code has to be written in order for a website to work in IE6 since it does not follow the rules set down by the World Wide Web Consortium. Quite often getting sites to work in IE6 comes down to a process of trial an error which can takes hours if not days. This is terribly frustrating when the website already works perfectly in all modern web browsers!

Here is what Wikipedia says about IE6:

"This version of Internet Explorer is widely derided for its security issues and lack of support for modern web standards, making frequent appearances in "worst tech products of all time" lists, with some publications labelling it as the "least secure software on the planet."[2] Campaigns have been established in order to encourage users to upgrade to newer versions of Internet Explorer or switch to different browsers, and some websites have dropped support for IE6 entirely."

The reason that I'm writing this post though is that as some may know there was an attempted hack of Google and other large corporations. Microsoft have now released a bulletin saying that it was through IE6 that the hacking attempt was made.

Now if that is not an incentive to stop using antiquated software then I don't know what is!

Apparently the largest proportion of IE6 users by far are large companies who had intranet websites or applications built back at the turn of the millennium. These applications don't work on anything except IE6, hence them being stuck with it until they can afford to re-write their code.

To my knowledge the Microsoft operating system Windows 7 now for the first time has the built in ability to use IE6 using 'XP Mode'. So is there really any excuse for large corporations or anyone else to use IE6 as their main web browser?

I suppose one example of it's proper use could be in a TV series set in the early millennium, before there where modern web browsers...

Footnote 20/1/2010

Since writing this post the Australian Government has warned it citizens against using any version of Microsoft Internet Explorer. I've sent out an emergency newsletter to all my lovely clients.

Anyway its good news for those of us who have to work with IE!

A few of my clients are asking what can they use instead, to them I say: