Basecamp (a great online project management software by 37signals) had announced earlier in the summer that they would be “phasing out support” for Internet Explorer 6 (IE6). The date was scheduled to be August 15th, but that date has been rescheduled to October 1st.
I can say as a Web strategist that IE6 has caused me much aggravation in launching sites for clients. Everything’s peachy until IE6 comes into the picture.
If you’re not sure what version of Internet Explorer you have, I can help you.
Basically, if you have to click OK to open different portions of Web sites with any interactive media, you can be assured that you have version 6 of Internet Explorer.
What’s funny to me is not only the fact that IE is no longer considered to be the best browser (despite still being used by a majority of people), version 6 isn’t even the newest version of IE!
In the phase-out article from 37signals (the creators of Basecamp), the links to IE7 (newest IE version), Firefox, and Safari are listed. <Hint, hint…stop using Internet Explorer altogether!>
In other browser news, Google has launched a beta of their new browser called Google Chrome. It boasts more efficiency than Firefox, more security than Internet Explorer, and more speed than Opera, not to mention the cross-platform ability not exactly delivered by Safari (and yes, I’m an Apple guy).
So, if you’re at the browser crossroads of life, try Google today. Try Firefox. Just don’t use IE 6 ever again.
