I’m sure most of you have heard about the browser wars that went on in the 1990s.  The truth is they are still going on today—the players have just changed. Back in the ‘90s Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) became the leading browser. Some people question how it happened and often point to the fact that any PC that came installed with Windows also came with IE as the default (and only) browser.

Today the major battle is between Firefox and IE, with a few emerging players like Safari, Opera and Chrome. In early 2002, IE was being used by about 85% of Internet users. But as of August 2009 they only held approximately 39% of the users compared to Firefox’s 47%. Here is a chart that shows this change. So why the shift? One of the things to consider is how the Internet has evolved. When the Internet was young, things like CSS and Flash were not a part of a website, while today these are commonplace. (To keep up with all of the changes, the W3C was created. It helps maintain web standards and guidelines).

Firefox has been one of the best at keeping up with the standards. Web designers use those standards to make their sites attractive and engaging. Guess what? IE does not follow most of the W3C standards. Instead Microsoft tried to reinvent the wheel and developed their own standards. In fact, IE6 is one of the worst browsers for following the W3C standards.  Have you wondered why a website looks a certain way in Firefox but not the same in IE? Well, this is likely the reason.

If you look at that chart again, you will see that IE6 has been in use from January 2002 to August 2009. No other browser on that chart can claim that, but that is not necessarily a good thing. IE6 cannot handle the new features that are now standard on the Internet. Microsoft does not even support IE6 anymore. As is the case with most software, only the latest version is supported by the manufacturer. So why cling to IE6 since it hinders the viewing experience on the Internet?

If you’re still sticking to IE6, chew on these thoughts. Would you still use your vacuum cleaner after it breaks? Where would the world be if everyone still used horses as our main transportation?  The truth is IE6 is dated and broken. I recommend you upgrade to Firefox or one of the other browsers that conform to the W3C standards.

This just in…YouTube recently announced they will no longer be supporting IE6. Need further reason to switch?

-Chad Breske

Trackback this Post | Feed on comments to this Post