I attended the Web 2.0 Expo session where representatives from the major browser providers (sans Safari) talked about the future of browsers.
One popular topic was the IE6 problem; i.e., how do we get users off IE6 onto a more modern browser with more capabilities?
Douglas Crockford of Yahoo! had the soundbite quote of the panel: “The problem is that web developers are doing a good job supporting these bastards.” (I’m paraphrasing.)
He (and pretty much the rest of the panel) put the onus of getting users to upgrade on the web developers. Web developers need to force users to upgrade by serving error pages driving them to upgrade before they can use the site. He even suggested that the web developers of major sites agree to do it all on the same day to mitigate the business damage of doing it.
Unfortunately, to me, all this smacks of “we know what’s best for you, so do what we want”. In his suggestion of a simultaneous launch of IE6 blocks, Doug is really just admitting that the natural reaction of users would be to go to another site.
Similarly, isn’t the fact that users are still on IE6 stem from the fact that the browser fundamentally does what the users, the web developers of the sites they visit, and (in corporate settings) their IT managers want? It may be an old browser with limitations but it has enough capabilities and work arounds that the modern web delivers some great experiences on it.
The onus is on the web developers to solve the IE6 problem, but not to decide to block IE6. The onus is on web developers to come up with the killer app/experience that compels them to upgrade that can’t be implemented in IE6. Until that happens, we’ll have to wait through the slow progress of upgrades we curretly have.
Ramblings of a Short Man 
Do you suggest like a low budget CSS design for just IE6 to make sites look all old timey like http://steveharmon.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Amazon_first_page.jpg with a screen shot like “If you had a modern browser your experience could look like this” 🙂
I agree that we should force people into a bad experience. I do think that for paid subscribers you could argue the need to upgrade to get the most out of their “dashboards” for example.
It is up to engineering to degrade gracefully.
I much agree and have been trying “forget” to test in IE6 more often. Alas, I spent most of yesterday trying to fix a retarded IE6 bug related to rending dropdowns…which entailed setting up VMs and actual older machines, just so I could see the bug in IE6. *sigh*
Anyway, what I really wanted to point out was the various mainstream sites dropping support for IE6. Maybe, instead of a killer app showing up, existing “killer apps” will do the job first.
I’m particularly excited about Microsoft dropping IE6 support, though the official date of 2014 seems a little too far out. At any rate, we should really start a movement to declare the day Microsoft drops IE6 to be an international holiday!
I’m going to build a website optimized for IE6 to support that movement, Keith.
Do you have a spam problem on this website; I also am a blogger, and I
was wanting to know your situation; many of us have created some nice practices and we are looking to trade techniques with other folks, please shoot me an e-mail if interested.
Everyone loves what you guys are usually up too.
This sort of clever work and coverage! Keep up the awesome
works guys I’ve included you guys to my personal blogroll.
Great post! We will be linking to this great post on our website.
Keep up the great writing.
By weblog commenting & forum posting, they help to increase your brand visibility.
Look for a company that makes a certain amount of effort
in knowing your business, what you wish to achieve from your web presence etc.
Understand that you’ll have many ways of carrying out your SEO.
Heya. I was thinking about adding a link back to your blog since both of our web sites are primarily based around the
same niche. Would you prefer I link to you using your site address: http://roasm.
com/2010/05/05/the-ie6-problem/ or blog title: From Web 2.
0 Expo: How do you solve the IE6 problem? | Ramblings of a Short Man.
Please let me know at your earliest convenience. Thanks
I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your website. It’s a very easy on the eyes which
makes it much more enjoyable for me to come
here and visit more often. Did you hire out a
developer to create your theme? Superb work!
Good day! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with SEO?
I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good results.
If you know of any please share. Thanks!
It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d definitely donate to this excellent blog! I guess for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account.
I look forward to fresh updates and will talk about this site with my Facebook
group. Chat soon!
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about this,
like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you
can do with a few pics to drive the message home a bit, but other than
that, this is fantastic blog. An excellent read.
I will certainly be back.
I’d like to thank you for the efforts you’ve put in penning this site.
I am hoping to view the same high-grade content from you later on as well.
In fact, your creative writing abilities has encouraged me to get my very own site
now 😉
My partner and I absolutely love your blog and find many of your post’s to be what precisely I’m looking for.
Do you offer guest writers to write content available for you?
I wouldn’t mind producing a post or elaborating on some of the subjects you write in relation to here. Again, awesome site!
I am no longer certain the place you are getting your info,
however great topic. I needs to spend some time studying much more or figuring out
more. Thank you for excellent info I was in search of this information for my mission.
I don’t know if it’s just me or if everybody else encountering problems with
your blog. It appears as if some of the written text on your posts are running
off the screen. Can somebody else please provide feedback and let me know if this
is happening to them as well? This might be a issue with my
internet browser because I’ve had this happen before. Kudos
Howdy! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this post to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
Doh! I was domain searching at namecheap.com and went to type in the domain name: https://roasm.com/2010/05/05/the-ie6-problem/ and guess who already had it?
You did! lol j/k. I was about to buy this domain name
but realized it was taken so I figured I’d come check it out.
Great blog!
This web site certainly has all the information and
facts I needed about this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
First of all I would like to say fantastic blog! I hadd a
quick question which I’d like to ask if you do not mind.
I was cutious to find out how you center yourself and clear your thoughts before writing.
I have had trouble clearing my thoughts in getting
my thoughts out there. I do take pleasure in writying but it just seems like the first 10 too 15 minutes are usually lost just trhing to figure out how to begin. Any ideas or
tips? Many thanks!
I was wondering if you ever thought of changing the layout of your site?
Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect
with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only
having one or 2 pictures. Maybe you could space it out better?