Art Imitates Life

Internet Explorer 6 continues to be the bane of a web developers existence. It is a major virus gateway for your computer, and with it’s goofy implementation of HTML and CSS and the DOM, it makes it hard to build the kind of sites that users enjoy, uh, using. Why won’t this madness end? Craig Buckler offers a few reasons:

1. IE7 and IE8 can only be installed on Windows XP SP2+ or Vista. Many people continue to use older versions of Windows or avoid automatic updates.
2. Many large corporations have legacy applications that only support IE6. Upgrading these systems incurs significant costs which may not be justifiable – especially in the current economic climate. As a result, their employees have been unable to switch to alternative browsers.
3. Many IT novices are ignorant of what a browser is, how to upgrade, or why they should.
4. Some users simply prefer IE6 to IE7 and the competing browsers.

Please. This technology is eight years old. MS, can’t you try to nudge people along a bit? The web dev community would heap praises upon you, showering you with candy and flowers. And I think we might even be able to arrange for 72 virgins upon your entry into heaven. Whaddaya say? Is it a deal?