Comments on: Google phases out support for IE6 – So what? http://blog.spinthemoose.com/2010/01/30/google-phases-out-support-for-ie6-so-what/ Closer to the glass... Fri, 17 Jun 2011 17:06:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: mendicant http://blog.spinthemoose.com/2010/01/30/google-phases-out-support-for-ie6-so-what/comment-page-1/#comment-127 mendicant Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:09:14 +0000 http://blog.spinthemoose.com/2010/01/30/google-phases-out-support-for-ie6-so-what/#comment-127 Yeah, but until someone starts to stand up, there's really no reason for those dinosaur IT depts to get things rolling. If more sites stop working, more people complain. More people complain and stuff gets done. Squeaky wheel and all that jazz. Yeah, but until someone starts to stand up, there’s really no reason for those dinosaur IT depts to get things rolling. If more sites stop working, more people complain. More people complain and stuff gets done.

Squeaky wheel and all that jazz.

]]> By: davidalpert http://blog.spinthemoose.com/2010/01/30/google-phases-out-support-for-ie6-so-what/comment-page-1/#comment-125 davidalpert Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:24:59 +0000 http://blog.spinthemoose.com/2010/01/30/google-phases-out-support-for-ie6-so-what/#comment-125 Okay, but look at the statistics that Digg published; most of the people visiting Digg.com with IE6 (those who were willing to fill out their quick survey, anyhow) claimed that the reason they were using IE6 is that they were <strong>not allowed</strong> to upgrade. In other words, their IT department was preventing it. Some, if not all, of those users are using IE6 in an environment where it is not possible for them to move from "I can't upgrade" to "I don't want to, but I'll do it" as you suggest; they are actively prevented from upgrading by corporate IT policies. In my experience, corporate IT is going to drag their feet when it comes to upgrading off of IE6 because they have a huge amount of time and money invested in apps that were built for and tested <b>only</b> in IE6. Many of those sites and apps do not work in newer browsers. In those environments, then it has moved from an individual choice to an enterprise-level choice, and the enterprise cannot necessarily see it's way clear to invest in rebuilding those IE6-dependent apps. While they still depend on IE6, they cannot upgrade. And while they cannot upgrade, and they remain a core part of your business model, supporting IE6 are table stakes; <b>dropping IE6 is not an option</b>. Okay, but look at the statistics that Digg published; most of the people visiting Digg.com with IE6 (those who were willing to fill out their quick survey, anyhow) claimed that the reason they were using IE6 is that they were not allowed to upgrade. In other words, their IT department was preventing it.

Some, if not all, of those users are using IE6 in an environment where it is not possible for them to move from “I can’t upgrade” to “I don’t want to, but I’ll do it” as you suggest; they are actively prevented from upgrading by corporate IT policies.

In my experience, corporate IT is going to drag their feet when it comes to upgrading off of IE6 because they have a huge amount of time and money invested in apps that were built for and tested only in IE6. Many of those sites and apps do not work in newer browsers. In those environments, then it has moved from an individual choice to an enterprise-level choice, and the enterprise cannot necessarily see it’s way clear to invest in rebuilding those IE6-dependent apps.

While they still depend on IE6, they cannot upgrade.

And while they cannot upgrade, and they remain a core part of your business model, supporting IE6 are table stakes; dropping IE6 is not an option.

]]> By: David Wesst http://blog.spinthemoose.com/2010/01/30/google-phases-out-support-for-ie6-so-what/comment-page-1/#comment-124 David Wesst Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:08:12 +0000 http://blog.spinthemoose.com/2010/01/30/google-phases-out-support-for-ie6-so-what/#comment-124 I suppose the question that I have is how to get the other 25% to find the alternative that they apparently don't have. There must be _some_ way that people can upgrade from a browser that is 9 years old. Having a big player like Google take a stance might force some of those IE6 people to go from "I can't upgrade" to, "I don't want to, but I'll do it". With that in mind, forcing your users to upgrade against what they want to do will definitely be a hit on your brand and the way that your users perceive your site/product. You will now appear as a bully. Ultimately, I suppose it depends on the trade off between development time and how far you go to please your user. Although IE6 support is well documented, it requires time on the developer's part learn if they were not forced to learn how to support it from day one. I, for one, am an example of someone who has never had to deal with IE6 because I started with IE7 and FF2. So, for me to support IE6 will be quite the task and I would prefer to avoid that development cost by having my users upgrade to a better browser. I suppose the question that I have is how to get the other 25% to find the alternative that they apparently don’t have. There must be _some_ way that people can upgrade from a browser that is 9 years old. Having a big player like Google take a stance might force some of those IE6 people to go from “I can’t upgrade” to, “I don’t want to, but I’ll do it”.

With that in mind, forcing your users to upgrade against what they want to do will definitely be a hit on your brand and the way that your users perceive your site/product. You will now appear as a bully.

Ultimately, I suppose it depends on the trade off between development time and how far you go to please your user. Although IE6 support is well documented, it requires time on the developer’s part learn if they were not forced to learn how to support it from day one. I, for one, am an example of someone who has never had to deal with IE6 because I started with IE7 and FF2. So, for me to support IE6 will be quite the task and I would prefer to avoid that development cost by having my users upgrade to a better browser.

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