Not unlike a few years ago when browser badges ignorantly proudly infiltrated our websites, Web designers and developers loudly proclaim their love and hatred for IE6. Today, however, we have a much more agressive movement: the IE Deathmarch. Not that this is necessarily a bad idea, but let's face it, as much as we should be pushing for it's retirement, we should be thanking IE6.
This IE Deathmarch is nothing new. Designers and developers have been clamouring for IE6 to go the way of the dodo bird for years now. What's different is the tone and spotlight attention that's been directed at leaving IE6 behind.
37signals and MobileMe (perviously .Mac) are two leading entities in our industry to publicly decree they will no longer support IE6, a fairly serious blow to the browser's users, but a massive win for standardistas and evolutionists.
IE6 was introduced to the world on August 27, 2001 by Microsoft in time for its Windows XP operating system. Its dominance in the browser market peaked at nearly 90% just a few years after its release, but quickly lost its place as the number 1 browser when IE7 and Firefox came into the mix. However, it's important to remember that many systems still run IE6, especially in business or personal environements that have no intention of upgrading.
Many people, like today, criticized IE6 for its lack of support with emerging and even standardized technologies and langauges. More importantly, the security and performance of IE6 has been a key argument for using alternatives ever since its release. Today, we have the same criticism, but it has become more agressive and angry without much room for thoughtful solutions. With so many people not interested in leaving the browser, it's often difficult for some Web designers to deal with the aged browser.
Today, we have feature rich Web apps that push the boundaries of browsers, redefining them to serve as a bridge between the physical computers in front of you and the rest of the Web.
Applications like Gmail, MobileMe, 280slides, and more continue to push the old desktop workspace to the Web. With so many start-ups looking to the Web for these kinds of applications, we need browsers capable of doing so.
Without browsers like Firefox and Safari, we wouldn't have the movement for a better Web that we do today. In fact, without IE6, we might not even have those browsers at our disposal. IE6 was the catalyst for pushing forward the Web standards movement, bringing competition to the browser market, and for better experiences on the Web.
Let's look at a handful of the ways IE6 has actually proven helpful for us as designers. Without IE6:
So thank you, IE6, for all you've allowed us to do because of your shortcomings and amazingly buggy behavior. Thanks for leading us away from a monopolistic, short-sighted future on the Web and towards and open, innovative, thriving Web experience. Cheers!
Share your experiences with IE6 below. What do you think would've happened had IE6 never existed?
Yes, thank you IE6.
I hope you get hit by a bus.
So we needed something terrible out there to make us want excellence in a browser? I could only agree with this post under the premise of it being tongue-in-cheek.
But on that note, thank you King Henry III for the USA.
Noah:
Indeed, in many regards we did need something to kick our butts into gear. If the Web was all we wanted and expected it to be, would we ever be motivated to change that? The standards movement, the urge for other browsers to do better, and so much more can all be attributed to something bad or terrible. I'd advocate that most of what we do is motivated from unhappiness or hope for something better.
And if we're thanking anyone for the USA, it might as well be those who colonized it (1492 ring any bells?). We have old Europe to thank for what happened in so many ways, just as we do Microsoft and IE6 for where we are today. So much of the Web's landscape and our field would be different if IE6 had never existed.
But what are we going to hate after IE6 does finally die? All of this progress and innovation is really making me complacent :)
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