Web developers rejoice – even Microsoft is trying to kill Internet Explorer 6, its 10 year old browser that has been succeeded by no less than 3 major versions.
According to the Internet Explorer 6 Countdown website which it launched – to much popularity on social media, it has to be said – late on Friday, 12% of the world’s web browsers are IE 6, a figure Microsoft is targetting to reduce to below 1%.
The website includes resources for web developers to implement banners which will display in IE 6 advertising an upgrade; it is also targetted at corporate users who may not be able to upgrade themselves. It provides tools such as the IE 8 Migration Workshop, a series of videos to aid migration, and case studies from large organisations who have made the switch.
“Now that we’re in 2011, in an era of modern web standards, it’s time to say goodbye” proclaims the website. “(This is) so more websites can choose to drop support for Internet Explorer 6, saving hours of work for web developers.”
China leads the worldwide list of shame, with a staggering 34.5% of internet users using IE 6. Japan, India, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia are on warnings with between 10 and 20% usage. The UK sits at 3.5% and the USA has 2.9%. The most healthy nations by far are Norway and Finland, sitting pretty at 0.7% each, under Microsoft’s target.
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