Microsoft Finally Pushing IE6 Users to Upgrade
Next news- Email |
- Print |
- Comments (66) |
- Share
Out with the old, in with the new!
You may be well beyond Internet Explorer 6. You're likely to have upgraded to 7, then now 8, or maybe moved onto an alternative browser such as Chrome, Safari or Firefox – but a surprising 23.3 percent hasn't yet.
The 23.3 percent usage of Internet Explorer 6 makes it still the most widely used internet browser. IE7 trails at 18.2 percent and IE8 at 18.1 percent.
While Microsoft is likely happy that internet users are sticking with Microsoft software, it isn't so pleased that the biggest chunk is still running browser technology from eight years ago.
Given the Internet Explorer is a free product, the motive for Microsoft in urging users to get caught up with the times is more to do with security and the advancement of the web. Browsers developed after IE6 are better equipped to handle modern websites and multimedia – as well as better adherence to web standards.
Microsoft is now running a campaign from now through June 2010 that'll urge users to upgrade.
"What we're doing with the outreach is help users understand how to protect themselves against social engineering threats that exist and to help people understand how Internet Explorer 8 puts people in control of their own privacy online," said Ryan Servatius, senior product manager for Internet Explorer, according to CNet.
Part of the reason why IE6 still has such a foothold is because it shipped with Windows XP, which is also the most widely used version of Windows today. Those moving to Windows 7 will naturally also move to IE8. The real challenge ahead for Microsoft will be to convince corporate users to upgrade – hopefully by way of a completely OS overhaul.
Follow us on Twitter for more tech news, reviews, and exclusive updates!
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Sponsored links
Related forums topics
Related articles
-
It is less than two weeks to Christmas and less than three weeks until we will be ringing in the new year. Time to wrap things up for 2006 and take another look on what was hot - and not. We are starting our mini series with what we felt did not live up to its hype and turned out to be a major disappointment. Here's our Top-10 for this category.
-
Windows 7's XP Mode has already convinced many users who sat out for Vista to go out and upgrade. But will they buy the right version of Windows 7 to get XPM? You do know you can get the same XP functionality from a Linux distribution for free, right?
-
What makes Chromium, the core of Google Chrome, the most secure Web browser on the Net? We chat with two former Google employees who helped to develop the sandbox model of Chromium.
Best offers
|
Windows 7 Professional (Full Product) | $299.99 Dell Small Business More info |
|
Office 2007 Home and Student (Full... | $119.95 Newegg.com More info |
|
Windows 7 Home Premium (Upgrade) | $119.99 Dell Small Business More info |
|
Windows 7 Ultimate (Full Product) | $319.99 Dell Small Business More info |
|
Norton Internet Security 2010 - 3 Users | $69.99 Dell Small Business More info |
Troubleshooting Windows 7 With Microsoft's Built-In Tools
Windows 7 is more stable and responsive than Vista, but no operating system is perfect (the same goes for the drivers and apps running on it). We show you a suite of tools built into Microsoft’s shiny new OS to help you troubleshoot your Windows 7 issues. Read More
-
Quick Look: Notebook Performance With Windows XP, Vista, And 7
Windows 7 is here, and we've already established that it tastes great, is less filling, and performs well. But do you want it on your notebook? We compared the performance and battery life of Windows XP, Vista, and 7 on an upper-mainstream mobile system. Read More
-
Windows 7 And Windows Vista: Performance Compared
Microsoft is hyping Windows 7 as the operating system that everyone should adopt. We'd already done a bit of benchmarking in the new OS, but we revisit a longer list of tests today, including more real-world tasks, like boot-up, hibernate, and shutdown. Read More









productivity can be greatly increased with better browsers...
i guess people just don't feel like messing with other browsers.
I'm not so sure about the privacy being better.
Sometimes those security/advancements can be a real pain in the "browser".
I'm gonna send this article to our IT guy right now. I've been nagging him to let us upgrade because explorer 6.0 does not allow tabbed browsing. Having multiple windows open everywhere on a little work provided 15" CRT drives me crazy. I don't think that's asking too much.
On the corporate side, many corporations will not upgrade due to them not wanting to update their own websites and software that may not be compatible with newer browsers. Same reason goes for how many are using windows xp.
People still use IE?
ie sucks firefox should be he integrated browser
People still use IE?
Hello
..i guess people just don't feel like messing with other browsers.
suckers
This article is using outdated information from Net Applications. IE6 usage has dropped closer to 22% now, and IE8 marketshare has surpassed IE7.
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/br [...] px?qprid=3
These bloggers/publishers should know by now that there's new stats on the first of every month, so they might want to try timing these articles as such.
I like IE because when I click on the icon it loads immediatly where firefox I have to wait. Toss up between the two but I do have to say that after using IE7 or 8 you can't go back to 6... just no logical reason to.
productivity can be greatly increased with better browsers...i guess people just don't feel like messing with other browsers.
Personally... I just don't want any more cr4p installed.
I believe a PC should run with very few extra apps and un-needed cr4p.
I'm forced to use in active-x based web editor (from inside the browser) to configure or internal building management system. My new work laptop shipped with W7 and IE8, I LOVED IT! Sadly it was not compatible with various softwares used in-house. I'm now stuck with XP and IE6 just for compatibility. (As are many in the workplace.) I use W7 and Chrome at home though!
My governement still uses IE6. Luckily for me, there is always Firefox Portable! At least, it doesn't crash when I visit this site.
Haha I'm on IE6 right now (at work). I believe that most of those IE6 users are corporations. Maybe thats why I haven't been able to access LogicBuy.
Microsoft started pushing the upgrade from IE6 to IE8 a while ago. Back in June of this year they started offering to donate food to needy children for every upgrade.
http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass [...] serPR.mspx
Haha I'm on IE6 right now (at work). I believe that most of those IE6 users are corporations. Maybe thats why I haven't been able to access LogicBuy.
Its true that mostly companies would be the ones not updating. I seem to remember something about internal company web pages not being compatible with other browsers or newer versions of IE. So unless IE 7 or is it 8 now? are compatible I can see some companies still sticking with 6(been a while)
I recommend people use Opera then Firefox then IE as a last resort on pages that will not load on Firefox/Opera. Why do I recommend Opera over Firefox? I just like it better
I also recommend having all 3 browsers installed, some pages just look or work better in one or another then the others.
I heard that they're going to start charging for IE. I think it was $125 for a 1-year personal license, $250 for a 1-year corporate license and $5000 for a 1-year 50-user enterprise license.
The charges should cover anti-spam, clickjacking, hijacking, freeriding, stow-away, piggybacking, firewall, anti-malware and privacy protection, which will be disabled in the ad-ware lite version.
why can't they force an update?
*kicks University IT department* Get a move on!
Srsly should have happened years ago.
Windows XP FTW
Only reason I moved to 7 is as an IT I need to know it...
What a shame, I loved XP64
IE6 works great and same goes for IE8 to my experience so far.
But Firefox should be king, specially for coders.
as head of IT we have been at IE 8 for a while now. it only made sense because otherwise people would be bitching to switch to firefox.
the main reason that it's more of a pain and many people probably don't switch is that Microsoft still bundles IE 6 on all of there latest and greatest versions available to download on Technet. Not only that but they also exclude a TON of patches that I have to redownload for every new image I make.
Why they still bundle IE 6 on those straight from Microsoft images is still beyond me......
I thought these statistics were a joke, until I joined college and found IT professionals here are still running IE6. No tabs! NO TABS! I thought this was just another fantasy internet article until it hit me this Fall Quarter. The most advanced and recognized institutions which breed our global geniuses are still using stone age cyber software.

I thought these statistics were a joke, until I joined college and found IT professionals here are still running IE6. No tabs! NO TABS! I thought this was just another fantasy internet article until it hit me this Fall Quarter. The most advanced and recognized institutions which breed our global geniuses are still using stone age cyber software.
I'm in the same situation. Honestly it's pathetic. The IT department here is basically filled with Computer Science Department rejects from the late 90's/early 2000's. *I* know more than they do about current tech. It's just sad
Microsoft shot itself in the foot when it made IE 6 as non-compliant as it could. Too many "professional" programs use IE6-only active-X controls, and most of the companies that created them don't exist anymore to update them to a modern framework. Worst are the in-house programs that no-one will take any credit for. How many payroll programs have to be run on IE6 is beyond me, but I've worked at three major companies, and all 3 require IE6 for just that purpose (in addition to many, many other reasons).
If Microsoft embraced open architectures from the get-go, it wouldn't find itself having to convince its own customers that the software that was "superior" only 3 years ago is now total crap and they need to move on.
well MS i agree but as long as you cannot upgrade IE 6 on windows 2k (besides being able to with other web browsers)then i am forced to stay with it on some of my PC's
Microsoft shot itself in the foot when it made IE 6 as non-compliant as it could. Too many "professional" programs use IE6-only active-X controls, and most of the companies that created them don't exist anymore to update them to a modern framework. Worst are the in-house programs that no-one will take any credit for. How many payroll programs have to be run on IE6 is beyond me, but I've worked at three major companies, and all 3 require IE6 for just that purpose (in addition to many, many other reasons).If Microsoft embraced open architectures from the get-go, it wouldn't find itself having to convince its own customers that the software that was "superior" only 3 years ago is now total crap and they need to move on.
The company my dad works at actually has moved over to IE7 in the past year and all they do is make workforce management stuff. http://www.kronos.com/ It gives me a bit of hope that places are (slowly) moving away from IE6
Microsoft: Quit IE, everybody just installs FireFox or Chrome anyways.
These people still using Explorer 6 are most likely the same people that need the instructions on the shampoo bottle. Just another reason why the internet is rampant with virus's, and trojans. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!! Upgrade your browser its not going to kill you. By the way your waaaay overdue on your cars oil change.
EVERYBODY just installs FireFox or Chrome anyways.
The percentages say otherwise
The percentages say otherwise
-------------------
Is 'cause all the win XP cd, vista cd, win 7 cd comes with IE...