Topic: Microsoft explains why they can't pull the plug on IE 6

[Samker]

Digg has prevented users on IE 6 from certain activities, Facebook has been telling users to upgrade, and YouTube is supposedly going to cut off IE 6 support altogether. Yet, Microsoft still hasn't pulled the plug on Internet Explorer 6, and they plan on keeping it on extended support for the lifespan of Windows XP. That is until April 8, 2014.

For those who are wondering why Microsoft is still supporting Internet Explorer 6, a post on Internet Explorer Team's Blog explains why:

"The engineering point of view on IE6 starts as an operating systems supplier. Dropping support for IE6 is not an option because we committed to supporting the IE included with Windows for the lifespan of the product. We keep our commitments," said the post. "Many people expect what they originally got with their operating system to keep working whatever release cadence particular subsystems have. As engineers, we want people to upgrade to the latest version. We make it as easy as possible for them to upgrade. Ultimately, the choice to upgrade belongs to the person responsible for the PC."

Those who are still using Internet Explorer 6 are strongly encouraged to upgrade to the latest version, Internet Explorer 8: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx

(NeoWin)