IE6 coming to a peaceful demise

We have been hoping, wishing, praying and actually struggling to liberate Internet from IE6 for so long now. The ‘kill IE6’ movement has seen all kind of phases and made substantial gains over the time. From IE6 Death (counting time when it is buried alive!) to mock funeral, and from IE6 No More to Death to IE6, the Internet is full of uncontrollable emotions and moments around this browser.

The time is nearing though for IE6 as Microsoft itself, besides sending flowers to the mock funeral last year, has joined the move to put this monster to rest that is just not dying. Microsoft has put up a website ‘The Internet Explorer 6 Countdown’ that is dedicated to watching IE6 usage dropping to 1% worldwide. It states:

10 years ago a browser was born. Its name was Internet Explorer 6. Now that we’re in 2011, in an era of modern web standards, it’s time to say goodbye.

Internet Explorer’s overall performance and irreconcilable differences with web standards aside, IE6 tarnished Microsoft’s reputation as a lead in this domain. I’m not sure how many IE9 it would take to rebuild the user confidence in this browser which is only surviving because of the OS it is bundled with.

IE6 funeral by Aten Design Group held back in March 2010