Internet Explorer is currently the most commonly used web browser in the world and has been ever since PCs started being plugged into the internet to browse websites and send email.

Internet explorer comes in many versions, we are now on version 9 of the application. You would think that when a new improved version of Internet Explorer came out everyone with an older version would cheer and replace the version they had with the latest? Sadly it isn’t as simple as that.

Many people who use Internet Explorer ( IE ) don’t know what a web browser is, let alone how to install a new piece of software, and because of this, they will continue to use the same version of Internet Explorer until they upgrade their whole computer.

Versions of Internet Explorer before 6 are thankfully almost extinct, but Internet Explorers 6, 7 and 8 are very much alive and kicking.

Institutions like universities, schools and often large offices don’t place priority on updating web browsers on their computers and often computers are in use for years.

The problem with older versions of Internet Explorer is two fold. Internet Explorer 6 is riddled with security holes which allow the bad guys to get hold of your details in some situations and all old versions of Internet Explorer don’t meet the latest standards for web development.

Web developers (like us) have been screaming for the death of Internet Explorer 6 for years. The latest website design techniques won’t work in IE6 and it have several bugs causing design to be more difficult if it needs to look right in IE6.

It was originally released in August 2001 and was replaced by Internet Explorer 7 in October 2006 but amazingly it still plods on with approximately 10% of people browsing the internet using version 6 for the task.

Recently, even Microsoft – Internet Explorer’s creator – has joined the campaign to end use of Internet Explorer 6.

Many of the worlds largest website are also now fazing out support for IE6. Some Facebook features are available in IE6, WordPress the worlds most popular blogging platform have said the admin area will no longer look right in IE6 and even the mighty Google have begun fazing out support for the ageing browser.

Our products, including PagePlay, do not include support for Internet Explorer 6 for admin functionality, but any visitors using Internet Explorer 6 will still be able to view all sites content.

So now is the time to finally kill off Internet Explorer 6. Either updating to the latest version or moving to another web browser all together such as Firefox, Google Chrome or Opera is strongly advised, for your own security, your continued enjoyment of the internet and the sanity of web designers around the world.

Find our more about the campaign to drop IE6 and try out some other free web browsers!