Google Phases Out Support for Internet Explorer 6
Following cyber attacks on IE6, some services such as Google Docs, will not be supported from 1 March. For the 20% of web users still using a nine-year old browser, which does not support modern web standards and restricts online growth, this should be seen as a wake-up call.
It’s jaw dropping news in itself to hear that one fifth of web users still use IE6!
Aside from the obvious question relating to visitor perception of brand identity in a tough one click competitive arena, some businesses are apparently operating with a lack of current universal visitor access and website accessibility.
This can only be a serious obstacle to using latest web design functionality and when attempting to achieve high yield online marketing campaigns!
The simple facts are that the web has evolved in the last ten years, from simple text pages to rich, interactive applications such as video and voice activation and very old browsers cannot effectively run many of these new features.
Following the recent highly sophisticated and targeted attacks, in which hackers used a flaw in Microsoft’s IE6 browser to target the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, Google has threatened to withdraw from the Chinese market.
Consequently, the French and German governments advised their citizens to switch to a different browser whilst Microsoft quickly worked to update the browser, nearly three weeks ahead of its regular security update.
Despite Microsoft declaring that it will support the browser until 2014, Google has announced it is going to phase out support for the browser, ‘..starting with Google Docs and Google Sites..’ and as a result some ‘key functionality’ of these applications will not work when used with IE6.
Upgrading to the newer browser versions is vital! The growth of the mobile internet and the necessity of businesses allowing across-platform access to drive their eCommerce potential is advancing almost daily!
Web 2.0 is the linking of social media communications and networked customer relationship building. In 2010, this impacts directly on integrating website design with marketing strategies at a level unheard of when IE6 was launched nearly a decade ago!
It should be noted that Firefox is the preferred browser option for key organisations and now runs a close second to Internet Explorer (IE) in Europe, claiming 40% of the market compared to Microsoft’s 45% share. Elsewhere, including Germany and Austria, Firefox has actually overtaken IE.
The UK may be just coming out of recession but for some companies, the upgrading of their browsers is also, only just the beginning …
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