Google recently discouraged users of their popular Gmail service from using Micosoft’s Internet Explorer 6 (IE6). They seem to favor and encourage the use of alternative browsers such as Mozilla’s Firefox and Google’s very own recently launched Chrome .
It stands to reason that Google will promote the use of their newly developed Chrome but have they really gone too far in slamming IE6? Most people to whom this question is posed will shout an emphatic “absolutely not”. I’ll leave it to you to decide for yourself.
Gmail users accessing their account via an IE6 browser are greeted with a message saying “Get Faster Gmail”. This link leads to a page which provides numerous browser alternatives for different operating systems including Chrome and Firefox 3 amongst others. At the same time claims that Chrome and Firefox are “twice as fast” offer many users a compelling reason to switch. Apparently IE6 also fails to run certain Gmail features earning them the label “Unsupported Browser”.
Google’s obvious endorsement of browsers other than IE6 led to quite a flurry of online comment most of it in support of the move. For years developers have complained about the fact that IE6 fails to support numerous web applications. Problems with the browser include the inability to handle style sheets and security vulnerabilities.
It has become standard practice for developers to create web pages for Firefox and other advanced browsers then spend hours backtracking to tweak each page for IE6 compliance. Developers complain endlessly about the sheer absurdity of this practice not to mention the inefficiency. It makes sense for developers to favor browsers which comply with web standards and support fast JavaScript engines.
The launch of Firefox was welcomed by the development community with exposure to the browser gaining momentum in 2007. Word spread and Firefox quickly became the web communities preferred search engine. Although IE is losing market share to Firefox, Microsoft still retain a large portion of the browser market. In my opinion there are two key factors contributing to the IE’s stickiness. They are: corporate aversion to change and the fact that IE comes standard with Windows software packages.
Small business and home users of IE6 stay with the browser for lack of information. They are not aware of its shortcomings or the fact that there are alternatives. Corporations on the other hand, even those who are aware of the alternatives and the comparative benefits stay with the browser they have been using instead of incurring switching costs and risking backward compatibility. As long as IE6 holds its market share, developers will be faced with cross browser compatibility issues.
Ultimately Google, the website development community and W3C slams IE6 and Microsoft for their lackadaisical attitude towards progress. While other industry role-players are hungry for innovation, pushing the envelope and continuously testing the webs capabilities, the software giant seems to have contracted the destructive virus prevalent amongst organizations whose products dominate the technological landscape, namely indifference. In such cases there’s nothing like some healthy competition to awaken the beast from its slumber. Perhaps coming head to head with a worthy opponent may jar them into action.
Download Firefox Now
Download Google Chrome
Dowload Safari for apple users
Flock for social media
IE7+ if you must
11 February 2009
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