Why Does Internet Explorer 6 Refuse to Die?

Everybody hates it, including its creator, but Internet Explorer 6.x refuses to die. According to Stats Counter, it still manages to take nearly 14 % of world wide market share despite not being supported by Microsoft. I thought it would be good to look at the reasons why it’s still around and what could be done to speed up its demise.

Firstly, why is it so much of a problem? A major irritation is its failure to correctly support cascading style sheets version 2 (CSS 2) which means developers often need to write custom code to detect browser versions and then perform conditional comments to ensure compatibility. The major problem however is the number of security vulnerabilities that it contains which present a real risk to the data of anyone who uses it.

The reasons most often quoted for IE 6’s continued use include, old operating systems, unlicensed copies of Windows XP and compatibility with legacy applications. Looking at these in turn:

Old Operating Systems: Internet Explorer 7 requires at least Windows XP SP2 in order to run. Hence anyone still using Windows 98, ME or 2000 would not be able to run more recent versions of Internet Explorer. However a quick look at Stats counter shows that such operating systems don’t even register sufficiently to justify being listed individual. They are grouped together under the category “Other” and combined don’t even amount to 1% of total usage.

Unlicensed Copies of Windows XP: Although it is not clear how many copies of unlicensed Windows XP are in use, it is thought to be significant. Internet Explorer 7 and 8 is distributed via Windows Update which does not work with counterfeit copies of XP and so the user is stuck with Internet Explorer 6. Although there is nothing stopping such users from installing up to date versions of Firefox, Chrome or Opera, many probably don’t due to a lack of knowledge. Indeed they may even be unaware their copy of Windows is illegal if their PC has been bought on the cheap. Stats counter reports that around 65% of the world’s PCs currently use XP so if 10% of this figure represents counterfeit copies, a large number of units are illegal. From a security perspective, it would be better if Microsoft “bit the bullet” and released security updates to the illegal systems as they are the source of most of the SPAM in the world and also make up Botnets that can be used for denial of service attacks.

Compatibility with Legacy Applications: It’s very easy to sneer about lack of foresight when you hear of companies running bespoke applications that are only compatible with IE 6. However, when many of these applications were developed IE 6 had as much as a 98% market share and was the best option available. It is also likely that some of the applications in question are ERP systems. If you want to upgrade one of those it can involve a battalion of consultants in smart suits with expense accounts and so is not easy to justify from a cost point of view. A simpler solution would be to use IE 6 just for the bespoke applications and to install a second browser for other internet access. Although installing multiple versions of Internet Explorer is theoretically possible, it is not supported by Microsoft. Other browsers have traditionally not been popular in large enterprises due to lack of central control which is provide for IE by the Internet Explorer Administration kit (IEAK). This is actually a misconception as Firefox, at least, has many such features. Another solution is to run IE 6 in an isolated environment using virtualisation which I have previously blogged about here.