People, especially web developers and designers, tend to have a profound dislike of Internet Explorer 6. That’s not news, but it keeps amazing me how deep this hate runs. Consider my recent article on YouTube prompting IE6 users to please switch to a modern browser, which garnered no less than 391 comments and over 2300 retweets. Needless to say, most people were applauding the Google company for the move and encouraging each other to spread the word etc.
Of course, the main reason why IE6 is still being used at all is because of corporate IT departments across the globe needing to make upgrade decisions. And we all know these things can take (far too much) time, particularly in major companies where the IT force oversees thousands if not hundreds of thousands of computers.
Now a passionate bunch of IE6 haters, their fire apparently fueled by our earlier post, is once again taking to the Web to shout out “Hey IT” and attempt to persuade IT departments into getting a move on the browser upgrade decision making.
The arsenal of weaponry: the website, some funny posters, a Facebook group and a Twitter campaign.
I’m sanely skeptical that this effort will make any difference, but can’t blame one for trying, right?
Update: apparently the Hey IT website isn’t IE6 or IE7-friendly (oh, the irony).
Update 2: there’s also IE6Update.com
People who are not tech savy will have IE6 installed, and probably will never see this campaign at all.
It will fall on deaf ears.
I doubt many non tech savy people still have IE6 – Windows Update will have sorted that out long ago and if they are not tech savy then they wont know how to block Windows Update.
The article seems to blame IT departments but in my experience it is not the IT departments fault, but the people who pay for them. IT departments are generally full of people who like technology – I can assure you they aren’t sitting there going “IE6 is so cool lets keep it”.
It is the amount of money and resources that it will cost to transition that stops the finance departments from being willing to sign it off. Large companies have hundreds of intranet applications that have been designed around IE6, that really don’t work in other browsers, that all need to be rewritten / modified.
None of this is pretty, but it is the reality of the situation and a recession is probably not the time to be making the changes.
When I say non tech savy people, I am also referring to non tech savy people with pirated Windows, where Windows Update doesn’t work at all.
By using recession as an excuse you are just spreading it further. This is exactly the time when progress should be made.
Non tech-savvy people who have pirated windows is likely a large a group as car thieves who can’t drive.
Thank God someone finally spelled “savvy” correctly.
Don’t be ridiculous Brakxel. You clearly have no clue to the number of such people.
You would be surprised if you visited some of the not so rich countries where a legal copy of windows amounts to a 2 month pay, and where people don’t have money to spare by the end of the month.
@Nebojsac The word also needs to spread to the “not so rich countries” that Ubuntu is FREE and includes FireFox — and yes it “just works” remarkable well.
I consider myself a semi-tech savvy person, but at work we’re limited to IE6. I’m at a multi-billion $ company that likes to have a lot of control over their employees computers and applications… which is not uncommon in mid-large enterprises.
doesnt IE8 has this mode that allows a site to be viewed as a older version of IE6?
if that is the case, the IT departments can upgrade their browsers, and modify their software to have this “flag” active
We cannot access most of our routers without IE6. [IE8/Chrome etc. does not work]
IE8 is junk. Some of Microsoft’s own sites and apps crash in IE8. What a joke…
wow matt – just making stuff up now arent you…
Which doesn’t mean that you can’t have another browser installed besides IE6 for everything else.
You’ve got to have a really stupid farking IT group if that is why you are still running IE6.
ie6 is not as bad. I support that browser, anyways u have to add ie code in ajax, ie6 or 8 not much headache.. Even i got ie tab in firefox for new login session.
To be frank, this ie6 hate people are making noise for nothing. TC should not join the bill gates hate bandwagon.
TechCrunch = Paid for Google?
Tech-savy people are retards, which is why they work in the back-office and basements of companies around the world for less than 100K per year.
Obvious troll is obvious.
IE6 update warning: 7 ways to tell your site visitors to upgrade
People really don’t like IE6,all websites and blogs should disable their support to IE6 by showing message upgrade to current browsers like IE8,Firefox and Chrome.
..and Safari! Don’t forget Safari
Why do you need Internet access on a safari? Enjoy watching the exotic animals and take pics!
> all websites and blogs should disable their support to IE6
I just stopped testing in IE6 a while back (and IE7 as well, now that IE8 has been on Automatic Update for a while).
I worked on a contract for a company with hundreds (+1000) of PCs a few months ago, and they decided they were only going to support/test for IE7 and above (along with FF). All clients were notified and the Help-Desk was informed of the policy.
We all want the shiny thing but in a massive recession, tell me who’s going to pay to test and fix all those web apps that were hacked together – what’s the business benefit? At my company, we just ignore the official ie6 standard and use what we want to. Luckily IT here had the foresight to risk-manage our machines, not simply lock them down out of terror.
Well the people upgrading their computers would be stimulating the economy would they not? And the business benefit would be faster working, followed by more time to slack on youtube and twitter and what have you.
The site doesn’t display properly in IE6, which, yes my company uses… Gah.
http://twitpic.com/bbe1k
Put’s this into a sort of ironic perspective…
thx for pointing this out @TimMorris,
should be fixed by now
nice find
funny that in all probability facebook, twitter and that poster website will be blocked in these companies…. like mine. how do they get the message?
Do you work for nazis?
If your IT department doesn’t let you upgrade IE then just leave it alone and just *add* firefox.
… which i m sure most of these people would, if they were allowed to
The IT depts that don’t let users upgrade to IE sure as hell aren’t giving users install rights.
Firefox portable FTW!
Microsoft just need to activate the critical update list – force a push out IE7 at least and dispite the fact “they cant force remote update” – we all know they can.
Just Do It MS – Save Everyone from IE6
PS – Enough with the websites on this – these guys need to put out a JS script that sites can easily integrate which shows a message like that on youtube
Firefox is much more fun, never knew this until i started using it now
Tim,
You are seeing what is described at http://ie6update.com/.
This does not mean any irony, its only advisory!
You are on IE6? when are you upgrading?
I don’t think what is happening here can really be considered an upgrade, just more of a jump into reality. Because in the real world nothing can function with IE6, not only is becoming unsupported but it just plain sucks (along with IE7 and IE8). But IT will soon realize that without Chrome, Firefox, or Opera their companies that are web based, or require the web to run (which all do) will fail.
IE6 is not bad, just it is an old product.
It works pretty good if you know how to add some hacks.
Yep, “hack” like free upgrade to modern browsers is the best workable solution known to humankind….if you want a workable solution that is!
If this is directed at IT guys, they may want to fix their downloadable PDF’s, which must have all been made from the same original. Open them in preview on os x and you can see all the text for every version of the poster.
Not a great way to gain grumpy BOFH IT guy support.
Thx for the heads up. This should be fixed now!
I hate IE 6, it’s the worst browser ever
Well, it’s better than Internet Explorer 5.5…
…just.
Netscape Navigator 4.0 was worse.
hey Robin, you seem to be their poster child LOL.
i ‘m not very optimistic about this; facebook has dumped ie6 support some time now and it even suggests alternative browsers, but didn’t seem to affect the downward curve of ie6
Does this mean I can still use my Netscape Communicator and Mosaic and get all the Web2.0 goodness?
Oh, and sometimes I use the Sun Java Browser when everything else fails.
I met the guys who wrote ie6update.com and the javascript at a barcamp a while back. Good guys but it launched a shitstorm of controversy in the twitoblogosphere, between the I love it and wish I could implement it on my companies site and the I hate it because it’s dishonest. Regardless, it’s a great idea but as the @digg survey pointed out most of the people stuck on IE6 are just that, stuck on IE6 without the choice to upgrade, like those fine folks at the department of state who think upgrading to firefox is a “cost issue”
I am one of the creators of IE6update. The controversy ie6update has launched has been incredible. It is very clear that most IE6 users are stuck due to corporate IT. I know this first hand working on web products used in hospitals for several years ( Think ~85% IE6 users).
Obviously getting IT to update their systems is difficult, but is the answer to just ignore the problem? I think trying to shift away from IE6 support outside corporate IT can help shift (slowly) the IE6 usage inside companies. Sure, it’s not as efficient as people would like, but it’s the best I think we can do until vendors have the leverage to stop IE6 support (or offer benefits for users of modern browsers).
IE7/8 isn’t supported on Windows 2000 or NT machines (still used in large quantities within the commercial world). The blame falls as much with the IT departments, as it does with Microsoft for failing to support these older OS’s.
I’m not sure I blame MS for not supporting platforms 9+ years old. I’m also not sure if that speaks well for MS (that NT and 2000 were good enough to stand the test of time) or if it’s bad (MS hasn’t come out with anything good enough to compel users to upgrade in almost 10 years). I know we’re talking about a small set of users, but still….
It’s not that IT managers don’t want to change. It’s not that easy. Countless intranet applications were designed for IE6 and won’t work in other browsers. Identifying and upgrading all of those is a major investment not many companies feel necessary.
And most are probably happy that Youtube won’t work with IE6 as it’s a nightmare for IT managers to provide enough bandwidth for all people watching clips, not to mention fears of decrease in productivity.
gonzalo – that’s countless apps that M$ shops made, well isn’t that just a shame. May that be a lesson to businesses developing for only one platform – and even locking themselfs into one non-standards compliant s*it browser.
This really strikes a chord, we’ve seen 9000 people begin wearing an “IE6 Must Die” via Twibbon (a new service for promoting your causes via Twitter) on their Twitter profile pictures in just a few days! Check it out at:
http://twibbon....in/IE6-Must-Die
Thanks!
I don’t blame IT depts for the use of IE6. The numero-uno problem is that Microsoft made IE7 (and followed up by IE8) so much more different and incompatible. The KEY decision for any large IT department is compatibility with needed web sites. If a web site requires IE6, the brower will stay at IE6. Unfortunately, many web site front-ends were developed through contracts. Once those contracts end, there are no updates to these web sites. It’ll cost companies millions more dollars to upgrade the code so they work with IE7 and later. Even Outlook Express didn’t work with IE7 until recently. Again, the sites need a-fixin’ first, and the brower will follow suite.
Why I can’t type “browser” is beyond me.
Techcrunch is full of Microsoft haters!
Not true – i love MS – but as a web developer (who uses asp.net) – i hate IE6
Same here. And not just because my name is Tom too.
I respect MS, but IE6 is a failed product for the industry.
IE6 is like the subprime mortgage of the web development industry. It worked great for Microsoft at the time, but it fu*ked everyone in the long-term.
Yeap, it fu*ked a lot of people who decided to go with a company (M$) that thought it need-not follow standards and could dictate what a browser should be.
I’m one of those people who really don’t like IE6.
Thx 4 share friends
I just got a new computer from my IT department, a beautiful X200 Thinkpad. The default browser? IE6. I can live with the fact that we’re stuck on XP (many companies are) but IE6? IE6? Really guys?
Good thing they grant us local admin privileges and I quickly put Chrome and Firefox 3.5 on it.
I know one IT dept that buys Dell- ships with Vista where IE7 is default browser- but they’ve to (re)install XP explicitly to support the IT policy as some applications are yet to be ‘officially’ signed for Vista.
So, end of day all laptops have the “Windows Vista” Stickers, but run XP.
Most users though upgrade to IE7 themselves.
If you hate it, don’t use it.
If IE6 would have not existed, Today’s browsers would not be as great as they should. Probably we are still using Netscape Navigator 3.01756
M$ nuttsucker. If M$ did not have a monopoly Netscape would still be innovating and many companies would not be fu*ked with IE6.
This sums it up well.
http://twitter....atus/2780706546
Start a name and shame site. List the names of companies that still use it.
Support among IT departments will begin to drop significantly as soon as the official support lifecycle for a product on a specific platform is over. See this list for details (and yes, it is complicated):
http://support....ternet_Explorer
For other products see:
http://support....lifeselectindex
As long as a product is in a valid lifecylce you always need to make a business case for an upgrade – and compatibility to a certain social network is a weak one. As long as there is no cost saving people will always push back investment into QA, regression tests, etc as long as possible (”Efficiency gain via Web2.0″ is also a weak business case. And “Enhanced Security” also. IE6 is – as far as corporates are concerned – secure. It is on certain platforms in a valid, supported lifecycle by Microsoft).
The corporate world will move as soon as the IE6 lifecylce is finally over. Everbody knows this lifecylce years in advance (which is why corporations like it). Does it take long? Too long? Maybe. But this is just how things are.
So get over it. Make your own business decision if you want to support the IE6 user base and carry on.
I gotta say, IE8 ain’t much better really. If I remember correctly, it only scored a 20 on the Acid 3 test. That, and it takes about 60 seconds to launch and renders horribly slow. Oh, and no matter what I do, I can’t get the Active X Flash Player to install on IE8 on Vista.
Do people really think IT departments will be convinced to upgrade away from IE6 just because youtube stops supporting it?
Seriously???
Personally I switched my office laptop to Linux/Firefox etc … a while ago. My IT department is 10 000 kilometres away, they can’t stop me
Google should grow a pair and prevent all it’s services (including search) from working with IE6.
When I had to launch a website in IE I often times cringe because I can anticipate all the errors that will be visible.
Upgrading is a “cost” issue. IT departments won’t upgrade unless they can justify the cost and for many there’s no need.
There’s now a slew of sites that don’t work properly in IE6. But unless they are directly work-related, why should IT departments upgrade?
A couple of years back I installed IE7 but was later asked to remove it because “it is not compatible with all of the intranet sites we use and we don’t want to support it”. Fine – but I can support it myself, and most of those intranet sites I don’t ever visit and don’t care anyway. In my case I can make this decision that any incompatibilities don’t affect me, and if ever they do, I’ll go and use a machine with IE6 on it somewhere. No big deal. Unfortunately, the IT department doesn’t see it that way…
So, I use Firefox, but only because I’m not blocked from doing so. Any minute now my IT department will detect that I’ve installed it, and I’ll get a little phone call. Then it’ll get blocked for everyone. But until I’m told otherwise, I’ll use it.
Developing websites for IE6 takes up to 20% more time. No wonder developer hate it. You have to write always some IE hacks. And some of them just don’t make sense.
IE6 was a spring board for all the other browsers now. It served as a guide on what not to do with a browser. Lol http://AppUseful.com
so….
for al the companies who are running windows 2000 platforms… and there are still a lot of them…
you expect their IT depts to simply go spend cash to upgrade… yeah right…
look guys, businesses are in the biz of generating revs.. if you want to upgrade/screw with/mod your own boxes.. go for it..
but until you guys are running 1000s of boxes, and having to deal with the myriad of possible issues on the boxes.. the shut the f* up!
Hahaha, the companies locked into a non-standards compliant browser like IE6 – made that decision. They fu*ked themself’s.
I dont like IE anything.. yuck!
Businesses have sound reasons not to upgrade and they have expressed some of them well and here.
Many older folks, decidedly not high-tech are still running Win98SE, and it will not support newer than IE6. Forced upgrades are arrogant nonsense. No website owner has to support IE6. They do have to decide if they want to turn their back on a large segment of their audience. Either way, it’s a business decision, or a financial decision. Forcing people who have lost their jobs to upgrade their system is elitist and remarkably lacking in compassion. It will not grow the economy to cripple them or squeeze them out of the online world. IE6 will die when sufficient numbers of people find it makes economic sense to them. Lots of non-profits are still using Win98 as well. Most DOC files still in circulation are in Office 97 format for a reason. Every dollar a business spends has to earn itself, not increase costs.
Whoa! Thanks for the mention of http://ie6update.com – Pretty amusing how it ended up getting discovered here.
Nick Pettit
Co-Founder and Lead Designer
Done21 (creators of ie6update.com)
IT depts don’t upgrade because they don’t have the resources. I work in IT and don’t know anyone else in the field who would have the time to carry out upgrading an entire office from IE6 to IE8, even if all the computers in the office would run it (which they won’t). Especially in this wintry economic climate. To what? Make it easier for web designers to make cool websites that’ll siphon off more of our workers time?
http://ignoredB...om/2009/07/ie6/
Well Johnny,
it IS the ‘web designers’ who end up slogging to make sure the “new” applications – that admittedly are developed to get business – are not broken in IE6. And the chief complaint is that the old browser is not just upto the mark and eats away lots of time, effort and resources- all leading to diminished business values for new development.
So quit the name-calling-attitude and actually DO something that’ll help business run better and with more efficiency.
From below : “in all fairness, the IT departments I work with are all for upgrading…it’s the “Higher Ups” that put the kiabosh on the big change.”
Even better : “We cannot upgrade because of all the legacy web-based apps that do not support anything other than IE6. And many of those apps were created by companies that are no longer in business, so they can’t be upgraded! We are slowly migrating to other solutions but it is a slow, expensive process.”
My point is that it ain’t that simple. I would be curious to find out how many offices out there are still using IE6 because they truly have no choice short of a complete overhaul of the entire network.
Most people hold on to IE6 because the interface layout makes more sense that IE7… Also, because tabbed browsing is one of the stupidest, most unnecessary “innovations” but of course default in IE7 to compete with the overrated Firefox (yes, simple to turn off, but an unnecessary change). Add the default hidden menus and you have a perfect storm of programmer nonsense that ignores traditional end-user practice in favor of marketer-designer-driven concepts that haven’t added up to much in the way of user-satisfaction.
Sure, security and development are better on IE7, but security and development doesn’t require interface redevelopment. When software companies start thinking about end-user issues more seriously (for example – MS Office designers – how about some Word autoformatting that makes a damn lick of sense) then these kinds of upgrades, like IE 5 to 6, will go over much quicker.
With MS making the same misjudgements with their OS though, the future is looking murkier and the door is open for companies that will put end users first.
Why are you dissing the browser tab? I mean, i can alt-tab as fast as anyone else btw multiple browser instances, but why bother? Don’t be a tab hater
This is straight from an IT professional. We could upgrade everybody to IE8 tomorrow if we wanted to. That is not the problem. We cannot upgrade because of all the legacy web-based apps that do not support anything other than IE6. And many of those apps were created by companies that are no longer in business, so they can’t be upgraded! We are slowly migrating to other solutions but it is a slow, expensive process.
Yeap, I see this in companies that made the poor decisions to go with products that are locked into a non-standards compliant sh*t browser like IE6. Bummer Dude.
I’m happy to see more and more of these articles.
The only way that things are going to change is if we the designers/developers are willing to make a difference.
I will personally be dropping support for IE6 unless it’s an absolute requirement by a client.
Building websites is technology based, if the technology is not going to evolve. It defeats the purpose.
Rock on IE6 droppers!
It’s good to see so many people talk about this, after all that’s what needed to happen. I fully understand that upgrading IE6 to a newer version could have a huge impact on some systems that have been around for a long time. Organizations using such systems would be facing a huge cost and that might not be possible at this moment, especially in the time we live in.
This, however, might in a lot of cases not be the issue the site is trying to address. I imagine some can keep IE6 for operational purposes and allow another browser like Firefox to be installed for general surfing purposes which also solves the problem.
Are we still having this damn conversation?
A person who is using IE6 is akin to a person travelling by walk in this era to reach a distant location
There are still many big large Corporate organizations who are still using IE6 in this era of tabless browsing..
Some nice hateful IE6 “art” here: http://ffffound...ced28d22143bb83
Very funny!
In all fairness, the IT departments I work with are all for upgrading…it’s the “Higher Ups” that put the kiabosh on the big change.
To each his own. Some like potatoes, some don’t.
IE6 is the reason why children starve, and the elderly get robbed.
Despite wide press coverage, it is actually IE6 that caused the fall of Lehman Brothers.
Using IE6 while driving is five times more dangerous than drinking and driving.
From a developer’s perspective, I hate IE6. From a businessman’s perspective, I have more important things to worry about than fretting over which browser we use internally.
If the people writing business intranet apps took as much care with their code as the people who write public websites, we wouldn’t have this problem…they would have dealt with the non-conformities in a way that was browser-neutral.
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http://www.word...-beginners.com/