New York, August 28: Some of the world’s biggest websites are taking sides as the most popular browser in history is phased out.
Internet Explorer 6 – for years the most popular program used to surf the web – is on the way out, with top sites dropping support for the ageing software.
And the phasing-out is shaking up the browser market, as rivals like Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome compete to snap up its users.
YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Google are all urging IE6 users to upgrade or switch browsers.
“We will be phasing out support for your browser soon. Please upgrade to one of these more modern browsers,” says a prominent message on YouTube.
Owned by Google, the video site is suggesting users upgrade to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8, Chrome or Firefox – in that order.
However other Google sites such as Gmail and Google Search are pushing Chrome exclusively.
Facebook suggests a similar list to YouTube but also includes Apple’s Safari and social networking browser Flock.
Chrome is by far the fastest, simplest and the most stable browser!!!!!!
Meanwhile, Microsoft has launched its own campaign to get users to upgrade to IE8 including banner ads on popular blogs and websites.
What’s the difference?
Nowadays the difference between web browsers is shrinking, as features like multiple tabs and “private” modes become commonplace.
Much of the choice comes down to personal choice, convenience and brand loyalties.
Mozilla Firefox grew out of the remains of Netscape Navigator, the browser that Internet Explorer replaced at the top of the market in the late 1990s.
It was also the first browser to popularise tabbed browsing, letting users have multiple webpages open in the same window.
Internet Explorer is bundled with versions of Microsoft Windows and is the default browser in many offices, while Safari comes with Apple computers.
Google Chrome, the search giant’s first major foray into desktop software, was released last September and threatened to start a new generation of browser wars.
However it has so far failed to make a serious dent in the number of users shared by Internet Explorer and Firefox.
How many people use IE6?
Released in 2001, IE6 is the most successful browser in history, dominating the market for more than five years.
It was the market leader from November 2002 to February last year, peaking with 86 per cent of users in January 2006, according to The Counter.
It now accounts for about a third or less of all users, having been superseded by Internet Explorer versions 7 and 8.
Last month, just over a fifth of news.com.au readers – 21 per cent – were using the browser.
In January 2008, the figure was 41 per cent.
As IE6 has fallen from favour, the number of readers using non-Microsoft web browsers has risen.
Last month, about 23 per cent of readers visited news.com.au with Firefox, 6 per cent with Safari and 4 per cent with Chrome.
Gartner analyst Ray Valdes last year urged offices running IE6 to upgrade to a newer browser.
—Agencies