This is a hot topic issue in the design community – What to do with Internet Explorer 6?

I think its time has come and gone, and should be left to rot away in solidarity. Those probably aren’t the best words to use when talking to a client about IE6, so take a look at the following:

I launched a site today (http://www.sharpenz.com) and have heard almost nothing but positive things. The few emails I did get with a worried tone to them included issues with IE6.

My client wrote about a screenshot sent in by her friend, describing a weird gray box around an image on the home page. They included the screenshot, and I didn’t need to look at it long to notice they were using IE6. I have some fairly strong feelings on the issue but responded with this:

They (the user) are using Internet Explorer 6, which is two versions old. Internet Explorer 8 is the current version. I specifically choose not to design for IE6 because of how out-of-date it is. The amount of time it takes to construct a page that is IE6 compatible is beyond comprehension because of the way it reads code. The combination of the extra time it takes to build an IE6 compatible site with the miniscule percentage of people still using IE6 makes it a waste of time and money to build in that version of the browser.

It was included in the contract that I will only focus on IE7 and above because of this reason.

Once this site launches you will be able to track how many people visit it from IE6, and I assure you it will be a very small percent. Those that do continue to use IE6 only do so because it is the default browser with Windows XP, which some older companies still use. People that do not have the option to upgrade to IE7 or 8 (because of restrictions placed on their computers) are not your target market. If they do not have the access to upgrade a browser, they are a lower level employee that will not be the ones buying your product.

To sum up, IE6 is the worst browser that I have ever encountered, and the vast majority of web designers have given up on trying to build sites for it.

I use some strong words in the above note, but it is needed to prove a point. The amount of people using IE6 is dropping quickly. With the rise of the ill-fated Windows Vista and the much-improved Windows 7, IE6 is on it’s way out.

I urge other designers to take my advice and not only stop developing for it, but let your clients know why.