That’s certainly what it feels like. Whether or not we should still support Microsoft's out-dated browser is a popular topic of conversation in the Being office. Despite the fact that Internet Explorer 6 is now 8 years old, the debate over whether web developers should support the browser has just started to heat up on the Web.

There has been a concerted effort to bring about the end of IE6 - every new day seems to bring another site for developers to join and show their objection to the browser. Before long individual websites were taking the decision to abandon IE6 themselves, and this includes some household names - visiting YouTube with IE6 displays a warning that the site will no longer be supporting IE6 and suggests that the user update to a modern browser.

It looks like Digg, a site that allows users to share their blog content, is also set to turn its back on IE6:

Why is there such hostility towards IE6?

I’ll be the first to admit that building websites for IE6 causes plenty of headaches.

One of the main goals for the majority of websites is cross-browser compatibility – in other words, that your websites will look (or at least work) in a similar and an acceptable way on whichever browser the visitor is using. Given the lack of support for web standards and the age of the browser means that IE6 just doesn't "work" the way more modern browsers do - typically requiring a whole new stylesheet for applying formatting and a lot of trial and error to make IE6 behave.

Aside from this additional (and disproportionate amount of) work to make a site display properly in IE6 there is also a high "frustration" factor. New browsers mean the use of new technologies and techniques, which make the Web a brighter, happier, and more interesting place for everyone - but supporting an 8 year old piece of technology can sometimes mean that these technologies have to be abandoned because IE6 can't work with them. It can feel like your development is being held back by the lowest common denominator.

This is the Real World Calling

The reality of the situation is that IE6 is here to stay – for the foreseeable future at least.

• One reason for this is that Microsoft are committed to supporting their product under the Microsoft Life-Cycle Policy. This is one of the major benefits of a closed-source, commercial product - the product that you've purchased is guaranteed to receive updates, fixes, and patches as and when they are needed. In the case of IE6, this support lasts for 10 years.
• Another consideration is that IE6 is still widely used. Regardless of the reasons why users persist with IE6 – people are used to the IE6 interface and see no reason to change; users are uncertain how to update their browser, or whether it is safe to do so; or they don't really care which browser they use, as long as they can get onto the Internet - Statistics from StatsCounter.com suggests that almost 22% of web users still use IE6, so excluding this sizeable minority just isn't practical from a commercial or accessibility perspecitive.
• The main obstacle to the scrapping of IE6 is the widespread use of the browser in corporate networks. The fact that IE6 has been used for years, has numerous intranet applications written specifically for the browser, and is tried and trusted from a security point-of-view means that there is no reason to update the browser in a commercial network setting - the improvements in user-experience and the ease with which sites can be developed don't weigh against the cost of redeveloping applications and the dangers of security holes. 

The (painful) conclusion is that as long as people and businesses are using IE6, web developers will be supporting it.

Resources

Browser popularity from StatsCounter.com:

Digg blog: http://blog.digg.com/?p=878

Sites campaigning for an end to IE6:  http://www.stopie6.com, http://www.end6.org, http://www.bringdownie6.com, and http://ie6update.com.

Statistics from Digg: