In 2001 Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6 became the most dominant web browser in the world.  Nine years on new technology and browsers such as Firefox and Google Chrome have left this average piece of software behind.  In 2009 I think it is time that the web helped IE6 finally move on, but will it?

Most web designers and developers would agree that IE6 has had its time and now is its time to give way,  not only to its successors in IE7 and IE8 beta, but to Firefox, Chrome, Mozilla, Opera and Safari which all bring a much richer web experience to their users.  The problem is that there are many factors halting the decline of IE6, these include:-

• Corporations using systems that still don’t support browser updates
• Users that have never heard of Firefox or Chrome never mind installed them
• Less wealthy parts of the world where older system are more common
• Microsoft’s imminent release of IE6 for the mobile phone market

So it looks like we are going to be stuck with IE6 for some time to come, but that doesn’t mean we cannot advise our visitors which in turn will keep things naturally changing and moving.  I am not saying completely stop supporting IE6, whether we like it or not it has a place on the web and lack of support will only serve to damage the flow of traffic to our sites.

What I would recommend is adding conditional CSS or JQuery to warn users that they are using a browser which could damage their experience of the web and hopefully this will help keep IE6 to a minimum.  In the meantime I will be adding conditional CSS to my site, but ultimately I will still support IE6 until the percentage of users is low enough to not be a concern anymore.

I am a web designer so dealing with multiple browsers is just part of the job.  Making sure that your pages appear correctly in as many browsers as possible is the key to make sure you touch as many users as you can.  With this experience I have seen a certain amount of snobbery when it comes to both IE and particularly Firefox.

The divide is pretty clear between IE and Firefox; IE users are on the whole the general public who have purchased an off the shelf PC or laptop and are happy with the standard Microsoft setup, whereas Firefox users are web designer, developers and IT minded people.  This is where the snobbery starts, Firefox users (the web designer/developers) have an automatic hate of Microsoft – the freedom crushing machine that forces users into their way of thinking.  There are two reasons for this state of mind in my opinion -

1. They think it makes them different or rebellious
2. It gives them a superior stance when speaking to the less knowledgeable general user

It is perceived that Firefox offers a more accurate web experience, your pages are represented as they should be and it gives more control with add-ons to fine tune your work.  In some cases this is true; the add-ons that firefox offer as an open source alternative can be helpful, but that doesn’t hide the fact that the text and image rendering capabilities of Firefox are not as good as IE7, as well as the strange results when using CSS which IE seems to handle in a more organic way.

Okay I know it sounds like I am just having a go at Firefox, so I should explain it isn’t Firefox that is the problem, it is the snobbery that surrounds it.  For every problem with IE there is an equal problem with Firefox and those that love Firefox so much should remember that.  Granted IE6 is now so out of date with the technology of today and it is becoming a little embarrasing, but IE7 and IE8 have made some big steps forward.  I personally like IE7 as an equal to Firefox, but yes it has it’s own issues.  IE has a tendancy to unexpectedly crash/close without notice, while at the same time some web functions don’t react as they are supposed to.  All this makes IE a more frustrating option than Firefox,  but from a page rendering perspective IE gives a much better feel.

I always make sure my pages display at their best in both these browsers, but the snobs will do well to remember that IE is still the most popular browser choice for users which are ultimately the people we are trying to target with our web offerings.  Firefox however is still trying to find a really strong foothold in what is becoming a more competitive market on a daily basis.  All any designer needs to remember is – create for your audience not yourself.