Rumors about death of IE6 are exaggerated

On January 3, 2012 Redmond, by determination of the journalist of the El Register edition Gavin Clarke "danced on IE6 grave". Then Microsoft obtained data according to which the share of the browser, once well-known, and nowadays odious for corporation, in the American market fell lower than 1%. Celebrating this day, the software giant distributed to employees pieces of cake.

But the problem consists that such data collected by Net Applications consider the browsers working on Joe Netizen's computer (Joe Netizen – determination of the depersonalized citizen in network - a comment of TAdviser). They do not take corporate users into account.

According to members of a startup of Browsium founded by the former development engineers of IE, IE6 it was dug round as the sniper in World War I from shares in 80% of the market.

IE6 "sat down in entrenchments" as many business applications, ERP and CRM systems, in particular, softwares for a financial analysis and management from SAP, Oracle Siebel and Hyperion were created for work only in IE6. Migration at the same time is considered by many enterprises as an action extremely expensive, labor-consuming or too risky.

Experts of Browsium consider that at a boundary of 2012 they a great number of the users who are still using IE6 will begin to ask a question - what to do next, and will begin to set terms of carrying out some changes.

The chief executive and the cofounder of Browsium Matthew Heller working in Microsoft on release of IE6 reminds that in April, 2014 Microsoft will stop expanded support of Windows XP Service Pack 3. Many enterprises work for Windows XP, their IE6 browser today: they bypassed IE7 and IE8 which market share in a consumer sector decreases now while IE9 was created not for start on Windows XP.

All who expect updating of functionality or corrections of security for this browser after April, 2014 will be provided to themselves. Unlike sales of Windows XP which Microsoft continues to expand for filling of the space left to Windows Vista, Microsoft of nothing spoke about prolongation of support of Windows XP, at least, so far.

Heller's company prepares the product Ion for an exit. He will allow to start the applications created for IE6, directly in IE8 and IE9 environments. Ion is connected to the mechanism of rendering of IE8 and IE9 for display of pages and when receives a call of URL which expects the answer of IE6, it reacts a configuration and security settings of IE6 as ActiveX filters, headings of messages, including data and the mode of compatibility. System administrators will define and will configure rules, Heller says.

If Browsium finds to itself the road, corporate IT departments will be able to get rid, at last, of IE6, having left only its code. Here then, experts say, Microsoft will be able really to cut cake. But there will be it not in the nearest future.