In the latest round of attacks on the beleaguered, and hopelessly buggy, browser Internet Explorer 6, Dan Frydman of web firm Inigo has started a petition on the UK Government’s website asking them to stop using the browser and to upgrade to a newer version.
One of the problems associated with the continued use of IE6 is it’s non-compliance with web standards. When it came out in 2001 Internet Explorer had 99% of the browser market, and so company intranets and portals were created or modified to be compatible with it. This meant that a great many wouldn’t then render properly on ‘standards complient’ browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and IE8.
The arguments around IE6, which have been rumbling on for a while now, were exascerbated when Google identified IE6 as being the weak point in attacks on the Gmail accounts of Chinese dissidents. Following these attacks both the French and German governments issued statements urging people not to use the browser. The UK government had initially downplayed the threat.
Recently however the department of Health issued guidance that all NHS computers should be upgraded from the browser.
The group IE6 No More have been lobbying for a while now to raise awareness of the problems with this browser, released at a time when internet shopping was in its infancy and dial-up connections were the order of the day. Only with the release of the first Firefox browser from the Mozilla Foundation did companies begin to take internet security seriously.
If you are still using IE6 at home or at work, we would certainly recommend upgrading to a newer version of Internet Explorer, or switching to an alternative browser as soon as possible, or recommending to your IT department that they roll out an update as soon as possible.
Source : BBC
