Starting today, our default web design projects will include a slide down warning for users of Internet Explorer 6 or earlier. It doesn't prevent access to the page, but simply explains that the browser is outdated, insecure, slow, displays content incorrectly and doesn't abide by web standards. It gives a handful of other options for the visitor to explore: Firefox, an updated version of Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome, and Opera. (Websites such as Facebook, Youtube and Gmail have been doing this for some time now).
We understand that some of the non-profit groups that come to us may still wish to support Internet Explorer 6 (for example, if an abnormally large percentage of their user base still browses with it), so we will still offer a line item option for IE6 compatibility by request. That way, organizations who don't see a need for IE6 support don't have to pay for it and we are all about keeping costs as low as possible for our non-profit partners. (We're a non-profit, too, so we understand about things like budgets). We will still make sure that the site functions in IE6, but won't spend inordinate amounts of time trying to make it display everything exactly the same as it does in a modern browser.
Since we like to eat our own dog food, we've already installed it on our own site (see the screenshot).
NOTE TO ALL IE6 and IE7 USERS:
Microsoft will feed people if you download a free upgrade to IE8 through this site: browserforthebetter.com
("Only complete downloads of Windows® Internet Explorer® 8 through browserforthebetter.com from June 8, 2009 through September 30, 2009 qualify for the charitable donation to Feeding America®. Microsoft® is donating at least $1.15 per download, with a maximum of $2.30 per download by users of Windows® Internet Explorer® 6 after August 24, 2009, to Feeding America® up to a maximum of $1,000,000. Meals are used for illustrative purposes only. Meal conversion is effective until June 30th, 2010.")
UPDATE: Perhaps we should also add a link in the dropdown header to Google's solution to IE6, which allows users to add a plugin that basically turns their IE install into a Chrome install. Very sneaky -- and potentially useful for people who have no choice over which programs are installed on their computers at work (as long as they can install a plugin). Click here for the "Chrome Frame" project page.
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Google apps is dropping support for IE6
It looks like Google is dropping IE6 support from their Google Apps (quoting below from an email):
In order to continue to improve our products and deliver more sophisticated features and performance, we are harnessing some of the latest improvements in web browser technology. This includes faster JavaScript processing and new standards like HTML5. As a result, over the course of 2010, we will be phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers.
We plan to begin phasing out support of these older browsers on the Google Docs suite and the Google Sites editor on March 1, 2010. After that point, certain functionality within these applications may have higher latency and may not work correctly in these older browsers. Later in 2010, we will start to phase out support for these browsers for Google Mail and Google Calendar.
Google Apps will continue to support Internet Explorer 7.0 and above, Firefox 3.0 and above, Google Chrome 4.0 and above, and Safari 3.0 and above.
Starting this week, users on these older browsers will see a message in Google Docs and the Google Sites editor explaining this change and asking them to upgrade their browser. We will also alert you again closer to March 1 to remind you of this change.
In 2009, the Google Apps team delivered more than 100 improvements to enhance your product experience. We are aiming to beat that in 2010 and continue to deliver the best and most innovative collaboration products for businesses.
Thank you for your continued support!
Sincerely,
The Google Apps team