A Breakdown of IE6's Slow Walk Out

By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 04 January 2012, 21:48 IST
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Bangalore: With the usage of IE 6 finally dropping below 1 percent in the US according to statistics from Net Market Share Applications, everybody is happy, including Microsoft, as said by Roger Capriotti in the Windows Team Blog. Microsoft in fact launched a countdown site that had an info-graphic of IE6’s prominence around the world, to celebrate countries that joined the list of less than 1 percent IE6 usage. The “Champions’ Circle”, as Microsoft calls it, consists of Austria, Mexico, Ukraine, and another 9 countries.

The reason for celebration with cake and 'Good Bye IE6 ' banners is attributed to the fact that most developers and IT pros have had to limit their potential in order for their applications to be compatible to IE6. Moreover, IE6 does not conform to current web standards that make browsing a safer and enjoyable experience.

CNET’s Larry Dignan thinks that some of the factors that made IE6 stay long after it had served its purpose, were that of the slow growth of corporations and their tight budgets. “A few companies still don’t value modern Web standards and may never upgrade their PCs again till employees walk out.” said Dignan in an article on CNET. Moreover, he said people, especially those who build companies, often resist change.

India’s usage of the ten year old browser is still charted at an average of 5.4 percent, according to Microsoft’s info-graphic on the IE6 Countdown site. On the whole, around 7.7 percent of the world is still on IE6, pointed out statistics from Net Market Share.