After a decade on the desktop, Microsoft has given web developers a clear message in relation to how and when it will consign Internet Explorer 6 to its list of no-longer-supported technologies. The Internet Explorer 6 Countdown website currently lists only 12% of the world's web browsers as IE 6, a figure that Microsoft is actively trying to reduce to below 1% as users are urged to upgrade to versions 7, 8, and 9 of the product.
Around the globe, Saudi Arabia (10.7%), South Korea (24.8%), China (34.5%), India (12.3%), and Taiwan (10.7%) make up some of the largest user bases of the dated software. More surprisingly perhaps, Japan (10.3%) and Hong Kong (7.6%) are also comparatively high users. Figures for the USA's usage of IE 6 show (2.9%) and the UK currently shows (3.5%) at the time of writing. Norway (0.7%) and Finland (0.9%) lead the field and sit underneath Microsoft's target 1% figure.
Reminding us that the Web has evolved significantly over the past 10 years, Microsoft says that its browser has evolved to adapt to new web technologies. The website itself has been populated with resources for web developers to use so that they can insert banners, which will display in IE 6 promoting the opportunity to upgrade. As well as Forrester Consulting's Study on the Total Economic Impact of Internet Explorer 8 and IE 8 Migration Workshop delivered by both Microsoft Services and Microsoft Partners, there are migration-focused videos and case studies from Dell and others detailing the benefits of making the move upward.
According to the Countdown Internet Explorer 6 website, "Now that we're in 2011, in an era of modern web standards, it's time to say goodbye -- so more websites can choose to drop support for Internet Explorer 6, saving hours of work for web developers."
