Five Reasons People Still Use Internet Explorer Six

by Yarden, Apr 7, 2008
Cross-browser development can be a real pain. Every web developer that has ever had to do a hack to get some part of their website to work correctly in Internet Explorer six knows what I’m talking about.

Even with IE7 being out for nearly two years, my analytics still show that half of my traffic is using IE6.

Here are 5 reasons they still use an outdated, Swiss cheese security, painfully slow browser.

1. They Don't Know What a Browser Is
   I love it when someone comes to me and says, "My internet is broken. When I open it up I see something I've never seen before." Then you find out that all that happened is that their homepage changed. Many people think that the browser is the internet. Until they can fundamentally grasp what the internet is, they will never have an appreciation for the browser they use.
2. They Don't Know That There Are Alternative Browsers
   Like number one, if they are even capable of identifying what the browser is, most people are unaware that they have choices. The other caveat is the person (like my dad) who, once he finds out he does have a choice, he installs 10 different browsers. If one browser by one company is good, 10 browsers by 10 companies must be even better.
3. They Are Afraid Of Change
   People fear what they can't understand. They put so much effort into learning how to use a browser correctly that it's just too much work to switch to something different, even though it could be faster, easier, or safer.
4. They Thought The Upgrade Notice From Windows Was A Pop-Up Ad
   People are really paranoid out there. Going so far as to put multiple firewalls and virus scanning packages on their machines. If they do get a notice to upgrade, they are so distrusting of adware or spyware that they typically just ignore it.
5. They Don't Care About Having A "Good Internet Experience"
   Hey, they are just glad to be on the "internets". This makes me wonder if they even care that my CSS doesn't render properly when they look at my site. Unfortunately my boss uses IE6 and he does care if my CSS doesn't render properly for him.

Please, if you're viewing this with IE6, switch to a different browser. Even upgrading to IE7 is better than what you're using now. You'd be doing every web developer a favor by installing Firefox, but Opera and Safari are ok too.

http://www.webupon.com/Browsers/Five-Reasons-People-Still-Use-Internet-Explorer-Six.106028