Just six years ago, the web was dominated by one browser: Internet Explorer, specifically Internet Explorer 6. Without Netscape to compete against it and the ability to bundle its browser with Windows XP, Microsoft experienced superior market share - up to 95% at the peak. Today though, we have far superior browsers like Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Chrome, as well as Internet Explorer 8.
So why is 15 to 25 percent of the world's browsing still done in a browser created in the digital Stone Age (aka 2001)? As a coder, designer, and UI guy, it's difficult to put into words how many extra man hours I and others have dedicated to make websites compatible with the outdated browser.
Despite the difficulty presented by IE6 though, the web's done alright. But with the coming release of HTML 5, we're about to hit a breaking point where innovation will be stifled if websites must continue to cater to this browser. Here's what's happening in the next few months and, more importantly, why we must force ourselves off IE6 if the web is to grow.
The Issue with Internet Explorer 6
Yeah...Facebook doesn't like IE6...
You might be asking yourself two questions right about now: What's so bad about IE6? And why do so many people still use it? The answer to the first question is relatively simple: Internet Explorer 6 is outdated technology in a rapidly-changing Internet landscape. Imagine trying to use the social web, Microsoft Office, iTunes, IM, your video games, and all of your desktop apps...with a computer from 2001 (20 GB of space, 256 MB of RAM, anyone?). It's the same thing: a great deal of new web technology is simply incompatible with IE6. A short list of things IE6 does not support, of which coders probably know them all:
- CSS v2 (Cascading Style Sheets): This is the code that enables almost all design on the web. In other words, designers have to hack up websites just to make them load in IE6.
- PNG Transparency: A great deal of .png images don't display correctly in IE6. It basically kills using them in design work.
- General Security: Just like not updating your virus software can get you riddled with spyware, not updating your browser can be a gateway to attacks. There are even code snippets that will shut down IE6. I won't tell you what they are, but you can find them on Wikipedia. It's unstable.
- Digg, Facebook, and YouTube (soon): Both Digg and YouTube have announced that they're cutting back on IE6 support. Facebook already gives you suggestions for better browsers if you try to log in with IE6. You won't be able to Digg articles or browse YouTube via IE6 in the near future.
Other companies have cited IE6 as holding them back as well. 37Signals, the maker of some of the most popular web-based business apps around (i.e. Basecamp) very publicly cut support for IE6 because according to them, "continued support of IE 6 means that we can't optimize our interfaces or provide an enhanced customer experience in our apps."
Now, if you're wondering why people still use the outdated IE6 browser, there are two primary reasons most people point to: the fact that it is the standard browser of Windows XP (which is still the most used operating system around), and the fact that many corporate IT departments don't see the need to upgrade - and find upgrading to be too much of a hassle. Without a significant event like Google not loading in IE6, people have stayed content with their current browser.
Still, the web has somehow gotten by with these IE6-imposed limitations. However, there's a new technology that will take over the web. It's also one that IE6 will not be able to handle at all: HTML 5.
The Next Step: HTML 5
HTML (hypertext markup language) is the code that helps shape the world wide web - you've all probably used an HTML tag (especially if you blog) or played with HTML at some point. HTML 5 is the next revision of the HTML language, and the features that are coming with it are a doozy, especially since its core spec editors (Ian Hickson and Dave Hyatt) are from Google and Apple respectively.
Google in particular is pushing it because it can really enhance the usability and possibilities of web development. At this year's Google I/O conference, they presented some of the things it will be able to do. Some of the coolest:
- Video Tag: By tagging a video with , you can embed a video straight through HTML. Because of this, you can really control the look and feel of the video.
- Audio Tag: The same thing as video, audio embedding becomes a lot easier.
- Time: The tag will help browsers recognize time in HTML pages. There's also for numeric values.
- Drag and Drop: While there's still wrangling on this point, with HTML 5 you will eventually be able to drag and drop files right on the browser. This is most notable for Google's upcoming communication product, Google Wave, a big reason why Google's pushing hard for this.
- Local Storage: Web apps work just like desktop apps nowadays, except they can't easily save work right to your computer. HTML 5 fixes that problem.
- Geolocation: With HTML 5, you should be able to make web apps that can determine your location and provide you more relevant information. With the rise of location-based mobile services, this is important.
- Canvas: The canvas HTML element allows for scriptable bitmaps. What that means is that you can create beautiful graphics or imagery on the fly within HTML, meaning the interface of many web apps can become a lot more dynamic and richer. Mozilla Bespin is a big project for code editing using HTML 5, one that - you guessed it - won't work in IE6.
Like any good language, more functionality will be added to HTML 5 as time goes on. If you want to have a more complete overview of HTML 5, I suggest reading the IBM Technical Library, but the point is this: while old browsers will still work with websites in HTML 5, they will simply not get anywhere near the same functionality. And with more and more companies dropping support for IE6, its users are going to be left out.
IE6 Has Stifled Innovation Long Enough
We've sputtered on with the dead weight of IE6 since 2001, but we're just now reaching a breaking point, and companies are starting to feel it. YouTube and Digg clearly believe that it's not in their best interests to continue supporting the outdated browser and thus have put the word out about their plans to phase out support. More and more companies will take their lead as it becomes harder and harder to justify the cost of keeping a site running correctly in Microsoft's old browser.
But looking forward, HTML 5 standards will enable the building of richer web applications. More and more of our lives are on the web, and our use of web apps like Facebook has skyrocketed. Google's even announced Google Chrome OS, an operating system that will run web apps instantaneously because it is built on the browser. But projects as rich as Google Wave will not realize their full potential (or run at all) if they must cater to a browser that runs on outdated standards.
IE6 was fine enough for use in 2001, but for web apps to evolve and grow into tools that run just as seamlessly as desktop apps, the browser that requires the most hacks, time, and energy to make things work must be set aside. The only way at this point that people will upgrade is if their favorite web tools don't work in IE6 and for new technologies to look forward to HTML 5, and not backwards to outdated technologies.