Mark your diaries for 4 March because in Denver the funeral arrangements are well underway for the planned passing that day of Internet Explorer 6, commonly referred to as IE6.
Few however will shed tears as IE6 crosses to the other side. In fact developers across the globe are likely to celebrate an event that has long been hoped for Microsoft’s most loathed browser. The reason IE6 is held in such disregard by the developer community is that they feel it is outmoded and buggy.
Last year a band of around 70-plus developers got together to launch their own campaign and a website called www.IE6nomore.com.
Led by JustinTV.com, the project tried to underscore that the loathing for IE6 wasn’t personal, just professional. On the website it said:
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“Working with IE 6 is one of the most difficult and frustrating things they (developers) have to deal with on a daily basis, taking up a disproportionate amount of their time. Beyond that, IE 6′s support for modern web standards is very lacking, restricting what developers can create and holding the web back”.
The desired demise of IE6 came a step closer when just a few weeks ago Google announced that from 1 March, it will end support for the browser.
The world’s most powerful internet company said that from next Monday some of its services, such as Google Docs, would not work “properly” with the browser.
YouTube has pencilled in 13 March for when it will drop IE6.
One very real reason why Google is pulling the plug is because hackers used a flaw in the browser to target the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.
IE6 quickly found itself becoming public enemy number one as foreign governments turned against it. France and Germany advised their citizens to switch to a different browser until the hole had been closed.
A petition was even delivered to Downing Street asking the UK government to give IE6 the order of the boot because of security issues and the fact that it is a browser that was released in 2001 and not fit for the purposes of 2010.
IE6 now accounts for 20.07% of the browser market compared to IE8′s 22.31%.
While Microsoft cannot publicly say they would like to see it pass to the other side, there is little doubt they would really prefer users to upgrade.
Officially they are keeping their own counsel at this time and referred me to two blogs – one detailing the growth of IE8 and another with an engineering point of view on IE6.
Now the latest attack comes from a website company in Denver called Aten Design Group.
In fact so confident are they that IE6 won’t last out the week, they have organised a funeral for 4 March, days after Google switches off the life support machine.
Such is the opprobrium that IE6 is held in that Jon Clark, a developer at Aten, told BBC News that they are aiming to bring IE6 haters together for a right good old knees-up.
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“I don’t want to speak ill of the dead, or soon to be dead, but I can’t say I loved IE6. It served its purpose years ago and now Microsoft has two new browsers with IE7 and IE8 it is a shame that people are stuck using old technology.”
For those who wish to pay their last respects, Aten has set up awebsite for lovers and haters to post their thoughts and memories.
Mr Clark’s favourite so far comes from Garret Winder who posted “I love the way you wore that sexy blue grey background on your transparent PNG.”
Mr Clark told me PNG it stands for portable network graphics which is an image file much like a JPEG.
CurtJ seemed to express some begrudging respect or affection for IE6 when he wrote:
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“He used to come to work wearing odd socks, half his shirt untucked, and always had a snapped lace on his brogues. I used to think he had a drink problem, but it turns out he was just like that.”
Eddie Escher indulged in some honesty with his tribute:
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“I feel terrible admitting this, but…I never really liked him. He had so many hangups, and he looked awful – especially in his later years. But…he was always there when you needed him. You have to give him that.”
And Erwin conveyed a sense of relief that the whole business will soon be over and done with.
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“Now it’s time to move forward: Life goes on…even without IE6. Thanks (for dying).”
Mr Clark said he hopes the parents of IE6, Microsoft, will be able to attend so they can “support them in this time of need and mourning”.
Source: BBC
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