So, for some time now, Microsoft's aged and perilous browser Internet Explorer 6 has been hovering in the 14-20% market share range, depending on the market. I won't go in depth here on all of the reasons for it, but suffice to say that invoking the name of IE6 makes web developers cringe like shell-shocked veterans standing next to a backfire. Its idiosyncratic interpretations of everything from Javascript to CSS to certain image types, and even plain HTML markup, render it painful for anyone attempting to build compliant, cross-browser websites and applications. Development time can be doubled trying to accommodate IE6. It is also 8 years old, and now has two younger siblings that have made many improvements, with a third on the way.

Why, then, does it persist? Why does it seem stuck in a semi-supported limbo?

The reason is five-fold:
1. Microsoft has no cajones. Microsoft is famous for its inability to let anything go. Windows has long retained code to support everything (and anything) it has ever supported, resulting in a bloated, swollen mass of rickety code and ancient standards adherence. I don't blame Microsoft entirely; users flipped out when, say, Vista forced some hardware manufacturers to release driver or firmware updates--and in some cases they didn't, if the hardware was of a certain age.

But I say take a page from the Steve Jobs' book, and do like Apple. They seem to have no fear at all dropping what they see as obsolete, the result is a reputation for innovation and cutting edge technology. Sure, there is SOME pain, but people get through it fine. And Apple doesn't cut people off with a chainsaw, either. Rosetta Stone and Carbon were transition technologies, that allowed people time to gradually move into the new from the old.

Unlike Microsoft, who seems content to bend over backwards for users who want to use their punchcard readers, and use an ancient and difficult browser.

UPDATE: Microsoft has dropped support for IE6, officially, and has declared it dead. This now needs to be understood and adopted by everyone. They even have a site showing just how few users are using IE6, and where you can track it's hopeful demise. Bravo Microsoft!

2. Related to reason one, above, corporate IT departments are sluggish dinosaurs. Apparently, it costs massive amounts of money to change anything in enterprise IT departments, including a free browser update--tho I'm more inclined to blame inefficiency and bureaucracy than anything actually technological or logistical; I can't say for sure, tho, not being in a corporate IT department. Still, it seems strange to me that there are companies still insisting on using IE6 exclusively as "tried and true", when they've had FOUR YEARS to work on upgrading to IE7/8.

And as for companies who have internal applications that rely on IE6 to work, again, you have had FOUR YEARS to hire a web development company smart enough to build using established cross-platform web standards. And, anyway, there are very few things you would need IE6 for that can't be accomplished with IE7/8, even if you still want to ignore 38% of the browser market (even by conservative measures).

3. The (perceived) suckiness of Vista. Vista CAN'T use IE6, without hacks, and ships with IE7 (maybe 8 now, I'm not sure). So if there had been widespread adoption, maybe we would have seen more downward movement of IE6. But, justified or not, Vista was widely vilified and rejected. Perhaps the upcoming and promising Windows 7 will be a boon for IE6 replacement.

UPDATE: Windows 7 is hugely more popular than Vista was, and IE6 numbers continue to drop, but in corporate environments it persists, since they are mostly all still using XP.

4. There's no reason to upgrade. Wait, what? Obviously there is a reason to upgrade. The problem is that the majority of the users still using IE6 are probably less technologically sophisticated, less connected, and don't really care about standards, the leading edge, ginchy features, or any of that. The only thing that matters is accessing some online data. Therefore:

5. Developers have also wussed out. We, as developers, continue to slave and struggle behind the scenes to make our stuff work in IE6, because our clients see that 17% of users still use it, so they want it to be supported, and that 17% sees no reason to change because it still works. As long as IE6 doesn't appear to be broken, there is no incentive for this last collection of users to upgrade.

So I've started doing two things with sites built by Syntax: The first is that we now charge extra for IE6 development. This is actually manifested as a discount off of what we normally would charge with the extra development time. As time goes on, and prices change, this may actually become an extra menu item that costs a premium. If the client opts for no IE6 support, we just do nothing, and the site tends to look and act broken. We used to expend some effort stripping out style info, but now we don't even do that.

The second thing we have started doing is displaying a friendly little note telling IE6 users they may want to upgrade. The copy we use is as follows:

It appears you are not using the most recent version of Internet Explorer. Upgrading your web browser will improve the security of your computer, and ensure the best possible internet experience. Upgrading Internet Explorer is easy and free of charge. Go to Windows Update to update Internet Explorer and receive all the latest Internet updates for your computer.

UPDATE: IE6 support has been dropped by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, YouTube and a host of other internet giants and mainstays. So if you are a corporate-type person, and you are clinging to IE6 support or refusing to upgrade your users, you should take some time and question the validity of that position.