Internet Explorer 6

Some welcome news today, Google has decided to not support Internet Explorer 6 anymore with two of its core products, Google Docs and Sites (read about it on BBC news).

As Clarence mentioned in his blog, we have also taken the decision not to support IE6. We've found that IE6 (which is almost 10 years old now!) is too outdated to support all the latest advances in web application technology that SambaJAM provides. Instead of downgrading the experience for the end user for the sake of a dying browser, we decided to not support IE6. While on the general web this is an not an issue as many users have upgraded, as the BBC article highlights, there is still a large userbase of enterprise users who are forced to keep using IE6, and as an enterprise company this is something we are constantly aware of.

With Googles support, and increasing numbers of vendors deciding not to support IE6 anymore because of its limitations, we hope to see IE6 phased out sooner than Microsoft's 2014 end-of-support date. The web has moved on, and enterprises will come under increasing pressure to phase out IE6 if they wish to give the latest and greatest web applications like SambaJAM to their users.

We recently made an interim decision not to support the IE6 browser due to the gradual decline in browser usage and due to the many issues and limitations its rendering engine has in meeting latest HTML standards. SambaJAM will be launched on Google Chrome, FireFox, Safari and IE8 and will have support for IE7.

The latest news on the web is that the new Microsoft Sharepoint 2010 will not provide full support for IE6, Salesforce has announced future UI enhancements will not be supported on IE6, Google owned YouTube will be phasing out support for IE6, in addition Google have announced the beta launch of their Google Chrome IFrame,  to seemlessley replace the IE rendering engine on IE6, 7 and 8.

Understandably many organisations still use IE6 due to having internal applications built n tested to work with it. Migrating from IE6 can therefore be quite costly, the Google Chrome Frame looks to be an important option in reducing the burden of migrating completely away from the old browser.

We are following the progress of Google Chrome Iframe and will review our decision not to support IE6. Ultimately we will respond to our customers needs.

For those of you who have never ventured into web development or for those who would like a good reference for common issues surrounding the IE6 Browser, the following link provide useful information about common limitations: IE6 Common Issues

IE6 is like an old car that has come to the end of it's motoring days. Repairing its parts are no longer the cost effective option. It may be time to say thank you to IE6 for its years of service, but we now need more fuel efficient engines, inbuilt satnav, bluetooth handsfree kits, power assisted wheel breaking, automatic lights and seat warmers for more enjoyable and productive web travel.