Microsoft has an aggressive initiative to kill Internet Explorer 6, the 10-year-old browser version that has outlived its usefulness.
The Twitter message above links to a special web site aimed at helping businesses upgrade to newer versions of Internet Explorer.
A big part of that story is security. Internet Explorer 6 is riddled with security vulnerabilities and does not contain many of the necessary anti-exploit mechanisms in newer IE versions. Microsoft’s new site mentions the security angle as well:
The web has changed significantly over the past 10 years. The browser has evolved to adapt to new web technologies, and the latest versions of Internet Explorer help protect you from new attacks and threats.
I just looked at the ZDNet Zero Day stats for February 2009 and saw that we still have a few stragglers reading this blog on IE 6:
Keep in mind that the famous Operation Aurora targeted attack that hit Google, Adobe, Juniper and countless other U.S. companies actually exploited a vulnerability in IE6.
This browser version needs to die. Please spread the word.
IE6 Isn't the Only Obsolete Browser In Use With Microsoft's push to eradicate its aging, problematic IE6 browser, PCMag looked into what other outdated surfing softwarepeople are still using. The array of Webbrowsers still in circulation would probably surprise the majority of Internet users, who by a large margin now browse with newer versions of IE, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari.