IE6 is dead. Upwards and onwards with IE7, FF+ and beyond!

As part of our internal processes we are continually looking at new technology and trying to highlight ways of moving things forward. One of the things we're asked more often than anything else, is about supporting browsers and which ones we support.  Currently, we support Internet Explorer (IE) 7 & 8, Firefox 3+ & Safari  3+, which seems to cover most of the bases. We also offer options to support Google Chrome, Opera etc. but, as yet, this is not in an official capacity.

Last year, 2009, saw a major event for us - we dropped support for IE6, arguably the largest browser platform ever, and we often get asked why we took that decision? Well, to explain, IE6 offers poor CSS rendering (layout to non-techies), so jobs potentially could take much longer to complete, especially when you combined the hacks that were needed just to get things working. And of course, these are costs that are hard to pass onto clients - especially when there were the alternatives of multiple browsers available, all offering free upgrades, faster speeds and better tools. So, we felt that the time was right for people to upgrade to achieve a better online experience. If you want to check the viewing figures that substantiate our decision, see here.

At the end of last year – 2009 – IE6 was showing 10% and dropping, and we felt that it was something we couldn’t support.  But it’s not just us!  YouTube is dropping IE6 support in early 2010 as are Gmail, followed by Google, so it won't be long before the other big companies fall into line. Supporting IE6 is not commercially viable for us, without the ability to pass on costs, and, on the flip side, it’s not viable for our clients either. 

So, from Jan 1st 2010 we have dropped support for IE6 and we’ve pushed forward with using the better browsers and technology that are out there. As of today, it seems as if everyone at Idealogy, designers and developers, have found this a much more satisfactory position, and it seems like our clients do also - the benefits are strong and 95% of them have now moved on from IE6 or are planning to do so in early 2010.

Posted by Simon Johnson