After a recent meeting, we finally made the decision to drop support for Internet Explorer 6.0 and its predecessors (IE 5.5, IE 5.0, and IE 4.0). The browser was loosed onto the world on August 27, 2001, shortly after the release of Windows XP. Security firm Secunia lists 142 vulnerabilities, 20 of which are listed as moderately critical. In May 2006, PC World rated Internet Explorer 6 the eighth worst tech product of all time. But the decision to block the browser from our website was not related to security concerns, rather it was strictly to do with its rendering. IE 6.0 consistently broke our layout, and failed to support a number of common protocols that all modern browsers are capable of handling.

If you are one of our very few visitors that still uses this ancient and deprecated browser, you will be greeted with this screen. (Based on our data, less than 1.2 percent run IE 6.0, and no visitors were found to be running IE 5.5 or lower.)

We feel a great weight has lifted off our shoulders. Internet Explorer 6.0 has been around for nearly a decade. It’s about time we here at Szilveszter.ca help put a nail in that coffin. We hope that the one percent of our visitors takes this news as a sign to improve their lives and upgrade to a modern browser. Both Firefox and Safari are two solid choices that adhere to web standards and provide unparalleled security.

Addendum: Interestingly enough, it appears we are not alone. It looks like YouTube and Digg are pushing for the same thing. Why IE Sucks chronicles this and more.