They are the most un-friendly browsers out there, an utter UI nightmare.
It's no wonder people don't like them.
IE6 casts a long shadow for Microsoft
Summary
Microsoft has released two versions of its web browser in the last few years, but in many ways its image remains tied to its 2001-era product.
Topics
It's been roughly eight years since Microsoft released Internet Explorer 6, but in many ways the company is still very much tied to the aging product.
Although Microsoft has released two major versions of Internet Explorer in the past couple of years, for many, the face of Internet Explorer is still IE 6 in all its tabless glory.
In large part, that's because many of Internet Explorer's users are the ones who tend not to change the browser that comes with their operating system--either because that's the type of consumer they are, or because they are working on a work machine in which they are not able to upgrade to a later version of IE or switch to another browser.
Amy Barzdukas, the general manager for Internet Explorer, said in an interview this week that Microsoft's perception is "being built by a browser that was fine technology eight years ago or a decade ago."
But that's frustrating, particularly since Microsoft has invested a fair amount of effort in the last couple of years trying to rebuild IE after letting it languish for several years. Microsoft added things like tabbed browsing and a phishing filter back with Internet Explorer 7, which debuted in October 2006, and earlier this year launched Internet Explorer 8, with anti-malware features as well as a private browsing option and improved standards support.
Even with that work, though, IE 6 remains not only the most widely thought of version of Internet Explorer, but also the most widely used version of the browser, at least by a narrow margin. According to Net Applications, IE 6 accounts for 27 percent of the browser market, compared to 23 percent for IE 7. Microsoft's new IE 8 has more than 12 percent of the market, while Firefox 3.0--the most widely used version of that product--has 16 percent (See chart below).
Credit: Net Applications
Overall, Microsoft has been losing ground for several years to Firefox and other browsers. After reaching near ubiquity in the post-Netscape era, IE's global market share is now less than 70 percent. However, Barzdukas is hopeful that the trend is starting to shift with the release of IE 8.
"To the extent that IE was losing share over the winter, any rate of loss has substantially slowed since we came out with IE 8, and in some geographies IE overall has actually gained significant share," Barzdukas said.
One of the biggest things that could help Microsoft, Barzdukas said, is if more people understood that there were better browser options available from Microsoft. She has taken part of that task upon herself, making a pest of herself when she is at friends' houses for dinner--checking to see what version of the browser they are using.
A growing chorus of Internet users have asked Microsoft why, if it really wants people to move to IE 7 or IE 8, it doesn't just end support for IE 6. After all, there have been plenty of calls for the death of IE 6, particularly from Web developers, who are weary of the work required to make their sites work in multiple versions of Internet Explorer, as well as Safari, Firefox, and other browsers.
While in many ways, Microsoft would like that too, it is a bit of a double edged sword, since some number of IE 6 users might consider a rival if they were to switch browsers at all.
But Microsoft officials insist they simply can't end support for IE 6, since it shipped as part of Windows XP and Microsoft has pledged to business customers that it will support that operating system--and its components--for some years to come.
"Many PCs don't belong to individual enthusiasts, but to organizations," Internet Explorer chief Dean Hachamovitch said in a blog posting this week. "The people in these organizations responsible for these machines decide what to do with them. These people are professionally responsible for keeping tens or hundreds or thousands of PCs working on budget."
There, IE's fate is tied largely to broader patterns of Windows adoption. Barzdukas said most businesses won't move to a new version of IE unless they move to a new version of Windows that has a newer browser built in. So as many corporations have stuck with Windows XP, so too have they stuck with IE 6.
Beyond the question of adoption of later versions, there is also the question of whether IE doesn't need an even more radical facelift, particularly in the era where the browser is used as an engine to run applications as much as it is a tool to move from Web site to Web site.
In large part, the shifting nature of the browser is what led Google to develop its Chrome browser, and now its Chrome OS, which posits that most computing tasks these days can be done from within the browser.
Microsoft is also at least exploring the possibility that the browser might need a more significant overhaul. Its research unit has a prototype called Gazelle. In an exclusive interview last month, researcher Helen Wang told CNET News that browsers need to act more like an operating system, taking a greater role in determining which Web processes get priority in accessing a computer's resources.
"I think this is the right way to go and I think this can be practical," Wang said. "It will also take a lot of work."
For her part, Barzdukas was mum on where Microsoft is headed with Internet Explorer 9 and beyond.
"As is the case with much work (Microsoft Research) does...they are often pushing us to think in new ways, which is part the reason we have them around."
This article was originally posted on CNET News.
Talkback Most Recent of 40 Talkback(s)
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itguy0814th Aug 2009 -
Back, Forward, Stop, Refresh- I see your point.
It can get complicated pressing 4 different buttons conveniently located next to the address bar, then there is that radically confusing Favorites button that stores all your favorite websites.
Then there is that Safety button, that handles all things Safety, the Page button that handles everything that has to do with the Page you are on, and the, gasp, Tools button, that has options and tools.
I know, man it's freaking confusing.
Yeah, IE8 is such a mess.
trance2tec14th Aug 2009 -
No File Menu for 1
But they fixed it and moved it where it makes no sense.
Tabs are a mess and kludgy.
The UI looks like a kindergarten project. (Then so does FF3)
IE7/8 is a UI mess as is Office 2007.itguy0814th Aug 2009 -
2 ways to fix that
1. Hit the Alt key, then go to View -> Toolbars -> Menu Bar. Then just get rid of all the other unneeded toolbars.
2. Use an alternative browser.
I use the later, but IE is not as bad as it once was, so the first option is quite viable.
Michael Kelly14th Aug 2009 -
"IE is not as bad as it once was, so the first option is quite viable"
I'm sorry that I keep beating you up when I get drunk sweetheart. I'll never do it again, I really promise this time ......
fr0thy216th Aug 2009 -
Microsoft brought it on themselves
Im stuck using IE6 in work because the web based application we primarily use had to be altered and so many work arounds put in for it to work nicely with Internet Explorer 5-6 that it won't even work with IE7, I'm stuck in a tabless world of decadence!
Lilputing14th Aug 2009 -
Same here
One semi-critical application written
specifically for IE6 and no other browser is
preventing the whole corporation from moving
forward, even though there was an attempt to
jump to IE8.
Get with it vendors. You have to code to web
standards, not IE standards. And your web apps
need to work with Firefox, too, now, if not
Google Chrome.
At least at my company, we have a Firefox
install to use as an alternative.
Spats3014th Aug 2009 -
biting themselves in the ...
I am enjoying the irony here:
Microsoft wants to move past IE6, but they can't because it is part of the OS.
(I know some people claim that IE isn't part of the OS. Whichever way you lean, you cannot deny that it is deeply entrenched into the default Explorer desktop GUI.)
At least the newer IE's that are shipped with Vista and Win7 are more standards-compliant than IE6...
R_Connelie@...14th Aug 2009 -
Re: IE6...
Ian,
tell your techies to take a look at TheWorld Browser v. 2 (not the current v. 3). It's a tabbed, gadgeted, free front end for IE which works fine with my IE6/XP, even on sites which normally only work with IE6. It will probably work with their applications.
Good luck.
H.
Henri IV16th Aug 2009 -
A global awareness campaign
Now that HTML5 and other web technologies are rolling out, there should be a global awareness campaign, to get consumers, businesses, governments, universities, etc. to upgrade their browsers. This would make it easier for web developers to confidently implement web sites that leverage these new technologies.
Perhaps global governments could launch such a campaign (e.g. with internet, newspaper, magazine, TV, etc. ads). I suspect most internet users don't even realize the drag they are creating on internet technology (which directly affects global internet commerce), by using out-of-date browsers.
linuser14th Aug 2009 -
dbjdbj14th Aug 2009 -
I've thought the same thing...
Make it an option to run as IE6 when you need to, otherwise you run standards compliant.
C'MON M$! DO IT!
Metronome4914th Aug 2009 -
Why bother?
After spending millions writing applications for IE6, why would our IT department spend more millions rewriting them for IE7, then more for IE8, and so on?
There's no upside here, just cost. When IE6 came out, Microsoft put a lot of work into making it the only Web standard that counts. And it is. If they can't keep their later browsers compliant with their own standard, that's their problem. In the real world, IE6 works -- and if it ain't broke, don't replace it with something that is.
Yagotta B. Kidding14th Aug 2009 -
Fine...
If you want to run your million dollar IE6 application then keep IE6, but get something else for internet browsing, or don't browse the internet. The fact that our(web developers) web stats show that so many of you are coming to our sites in IE6 stifles innovation that can improve the web and the world. Not to mention it takes time (time = money) to make a site work for you Jurassic browser. It costs me money and wastes time. I just hope that people using IE6 realize that a website that appears broken and crazy is actually just made right, and it's their browser that's broken, and not my site.
Metronome4914th Aug 2009 -
Re: Fine...
And what site would that be?
harrisharris15th Aug 2009
Talkback - Tell Us What You Think
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