Google Apps to drop IE6 Support
Posted in Web, on February 2nd, 2010 by Carlos.
I received an email yesterday from Google Apps stating that as of March 1 2010, Google will begin to drop support for IE6 “as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers” starting with Google Docs suite and Google Sites editor. Later in 2010, Google Mail and Google Calendar will also drop support for the antiquated browsers. Google claims that it will be employing “faster JavaScript processing and new standards like HTML5″ rendering older browsers useless.
I think it’s about time a major corporation such as Google is putting their foot down with support for browsers like IE6. Long known as the bane of every web designer and developer, IE6 still seems to have a chokehold on the Internet, even though its usage numbers are dwindling, As such, it is slowing down progress for the new technologies that make the Internet truly interactive, and perhaps more importantly, easier to develop for. Guiltily, I must admit that I even still insist that sites I design be IE6 friendly as you never know what browser a client or potential client is using. This announcement from Google, however, has me thinking that I will officially be dr0pping IE6 support as well. Given that it was released August 27, 2001 (according to Wikipedia), I think we are good to move on.
Do you still support IE6 for web projects, and if so why? Is it safer for interactive sites such as Google Apps to drop support for these browsers than perhaps a general information site?
Maybe somebody should bring this to the attention of my current employer…also the fact that their website doesn’t work in Safari or Firefox….
I’m proud of Google to finally say we’re not going to take this any longer!