Microsoft has released a brand new Internet website that's aimed at stepping up its campaign to move users off Web Explorer (IE) six.
The new web site — the World-wide-web Explorer 6 Countdown — went live on March 4. The internet site “is dedicated to watching Online Explorer 6 usage drop to less than 1% worldwide, so more websites can choose to drop support for World-wide-web Explorer six, saving hours of work for internet developers,” according to the web page.
The web-site includes links to tools for businesses that are stuck with IE 6 because they;ve developed internal-facing apps that are dependent on Microsoft;s 10-year-old,
Office 2010 Professional Plus Key, non-standards-compliant browser.Gartner analysts have complained in the past that Microsoft;s tools for moving business people off IE six are too pricey.
The new IE Countdown site also includes a world map, highlighting which countries around the world still have the most IE six installations. (China is No. 1.)
In addition to focusing on the developer side of the “IE six must die” message, Microsoft officials also are emphasizing the improved security from which IE people can benefit by switching to IE 8. IE 9 is still in Release Candidate stage and is not mentioned as a comparison point.
Update: Another reason IE 9 is not mentioned — which I didn;t consider earlier — is that IE 9 won;t work with/on Windows XP. I;d wager that a substantial percentage of those stuck with IE six are also still using XP, and if those consumers want to stick with IE, they can only upgrade to IE 8.