- February 24, 2010 11:46 am
Ok ok, I know. You’re thinking another IE 6 joke/rant. Well, this one is actually quite funny and doesn’t really need much else. (**See picture below) Simply put, IE6′s web standards compliance are so lacking, (and terrible at what they do manage to muster in support these days) that it will take a pretty face such as subject 1 (top) and turn it into subject 2 (not top). In real life, it’s not quite that drastic — to a human face anyway. Either way, the geek in you should find this at least mildly amusing. Am I right?
DailyWhat > Embiggen (Flikr)
Oh geeze. This morning we have another example of government showing their gross incompetence when it comes to anything digital. After the big Google hack debacle, Google as well as several other large institutions and companies have come forward, speaking out against IE 6 in particular, warning of the massive risk you take when using such an old and security ridden browser. Some have even gone as far as to call out any version of IE as a “bad choice”. For this article anyway, we’re focusing on IE 6 — the old hag that somehow still continues to live on…
You see, while the rest of the civilized world is finally wising up to the problems associated with using a nearly 10-year old browser, the UK Parliament is perfectly fine in their own little land with Microsoft’s aging relic. To them, the outcries of various security warnings and other perils are overblown.
What’s even worse is that according to the person asking the questions — UK’s Lord Avebury — Parliament IT staff are “actively discouraging” the use of any other browsers. Now at this point I’m not sure if they’re actively discouraging users from anything other than IE 6 or simply “other” non-IE browsers. Either way, it’s pretty sad.
Kind of scary to think that out of all the people to fall in love with a bug ridden, standards deficient, security laden browser, your countries Government is the most blinded by this so called love.
Inquirer > ebrahim
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If there were ever a more telling, more truthful, or more fitting t-shirt depicting the horrors and evil of Internet Explorer 6, the IE 666 shirt is by far at the top of the list. Web developers know of the absolute nightmare induced headaches caused by “Microsoft’s finest” and end users know of the countless improperly rendered sites, slow navigation, and all around levels of suck that are prevalent. So have a good laugh at Microsoft’s expense. Think Geek has the threads as always…
Geeky-Gadgets
When considering modern, worldclass browsers, IE doesn’t necessarily rank high on my list. A brand new browser that utterly chokes and dies on simple web standards tests is by no means modern no matter the shipping date. Many browsers and developers from Mozilla, Apple, Google, and many other smaller 3rd parties are gunning to dethrone IE and capture their own slice of the browser pie. While Microsoft still holds a commanding overall lead in the browser world with 64.64%, that dominance is faltering daily. Firefox recently enjoyed a pretty cool yet disgusting victory — Firefox has finally surpassed IE6. As of October, Firefox is sitting pretty at 24.07% while IE 6 continues it’s (much loved) downward spiral briefly pausing at the current 23.30% market share.
You may be already starting the party and then remember, IE 6 is hardly a contender to the latest Firefox. Even though Mozilla has finally toppled a flavor of IE, the fact that said browser is nearing a decade old is pathetic. Of course, IE 6 is hardly sticking around by choice. For that, blame stagnant (read: Lazy) IT departments that hold off on upgrading because of program incompatibilities that they fail to actually fix. So it is a bittersweet moment when this old giant falls. Still, one less IE in the front running the better. Hey, I don’t have anything personal with Microsoft or IE. If they’d actually develop IE to a level that is on par with the others mentioned above, then they might have something. Until then, Chrome and Firefox FTW!
Slashdot > Ars Technica
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While Microsoft loves pushing their own in house products, this latest revelation is quite disheartening and downright rude. According to The Next Report, IE 6 users are facing a rather nasty forced decision when it comes to search engine preference. It appears that any attempts to switch the default search engine to any search engine other than Bing, results in a big fat error. While some may say big deal, who uses IE 6 anyway? Well in actuality it is a huge deal. No one should determine on my computer what I can or can’t use. Not to mention, the fact that IE 6 is still being used is ridiculous. People using that browser might as well be broadcasting their social security number, bank account numbers and any other valuable information as the browser is chock full of security holes, not to mention hardly meets any web standards. Since Microsoft has had their fair share of antitrust cases for reasons much like this, it’s hard to believe this was deliberate, instead being a rare occurrence and bug. Currently, Big M is working on a solution as this reeks of anti-trust. Hopefully Microsoft figures out a solution quick.
Source: Tech Crunch, Image Source
