Browsing YouTube with IE6 at Work? Those Days May Soon be Over
Internet Explorer 6 is the browser that just doesn't want to die, even though it has now been superseded by two generations of Internet Explorer, and Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and Opera offer great alternatives. Slowly, however, we are seeing that web developers are phasing out support for IE6, and the latest service to join this movement is Google's YouTube. According to some reports, a message now appears on YouTube when a user accesses the site with IE6, informing users that the service will be "phasing out support for your browser soon." The logos of Google Chrome, Firefox, and IE8 appear right next to the text.
Who Uses IE6?
Most users who have a choice would probably switch away from IE6 in a heartbeat, but if the stats for YouTube are anything like what Digg found in regards to phasing out support for IE6, then most YouTube users who are actually still using IE6 do so from work. Digg found that 90% of its IE6 users were using this antiquated browser at work, where they probably have no other option. About 80% of those who responded to Digg's survey couldn't change to another browser because they had no administrator access to their computer, weren't allowed to upgrade, or simply couldn't upgrade because they were still running Windows 2000, ME, or 98. About 17% of Digg's users simply didn't feel the need to upgrade and 7% said they preferred IE6 to other browsers (we wonder how many of these people were serious, though).
Of course, it is also important to note that Google also uses messages like "Gmail runs better in Chrome" to push its own browser regularly and regularly runs ads for Chrome on YouTube.
Image Credit: Ajaxian.
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The funniest part of this post was the "Image Credit: Ajaxian" at the end.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/14/youtube-will-be-next-to-kiss-ie6-support-goodbye/
This is not really news and does not have that much of an impact. Companies that keep their employees locked in an IE6 world are the same companies that block Facebook and YouTube anyways.
@Chris You'd be surprised how many companies that is. *cough*sprint*cough*.
I work for an arm of the Department of Defense. Amazingly, IE6 is used here because, in the words of the network folks, "it's more secure" than Firefox.
I wonder if a large % of IE6 workplace use is driven by government agencies which tend to be particularly hidebound and typically have significantly older employees on average.
Oh, man! You mean some people at work might not be able to waste time watching YouTube videos? That's not the America I want to live in! Seriously, I can't believe sites like YouTube aren't blocked in most workplaces anyway.
www.saveie6.com !!
I've just made a Snippet code for that:
http://jerusalemstyle.com/blog/dropping-ie6-no-more-ie6-support-appeal-webmasters-revolution-20090714-38
This is really a sad news...
Irony : IE6 will actually become more secure - as it's marketshare declines, it will simply be non-worthwhile to target.
To be fair, within a lot of dull corporate environments it probably IS secure too, as you'll be protected by proxies, AV software and the kind of highly managed environment that most home users don't have access too.
The reason a lot of IT departments tend to be hidebound is that they just don't trust things to work as claimed (and a lot of that is on past experience), and because a lot of people in the firm expect them to supply things that do work, and to support them when it does.
I find it annoying with my own department - that it can take weeks to get them to do anything - but sitting in the same room I'm also aware they're incredibly busy, and I can understand why they keep trying to simplify their job (by standardising kit, Windows installations, etc) - even as they completely contradicts what I need them to do.
I can't believe what I'm hearing. Some of you like antiquated browsers that aren't nearly as secure as Firefox? On old operating systems no doubt... Clearly people stuck on IE6 and think YouTube should be banned don't think out of the box - or office for that matter. As a web developer I'm happy to help technology move forward and not stay stuck in one place.
At our company, security is a top priority, and as such our service does not support IE6. However, we understand that some people at work have no other option other than IE6. As a response, we created a document for them to send to their IT folks which outlines reasons why they should offer an alternative to IE6.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/17681961/Why-Your-Company-Should-Offer-an-Alternative-to-IE6
-Arsen
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