If you're using the browser Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) or an older one, you should have got the message at the top of the browser telling you you should upgrade.

Why do I, and many other Norwegian companies, care about which browser you use? Shouldn't it be up to every individual what they want to use?

Lots of errors in IE6

The internet should be for everyone. I'm therefore hesitant about telling the users which browser or other applications they should use. IE6, on the other hand, is a bit special. It is used by less than 10% of the users on this website, but more than 15% of the users on other websites. Some websites have an even higher percentage.
The problem with IE6 is that it doesn't quite follow the standards for how it should present the content on a website. In addition it's riddled with security weaknesses, and some errors.

A few years back, most websites adapted to IE6's oddities, but Microsoft has long since created IE7, which is both more secure and more user friendly. They also have IE8 on the steps. Since the spread of IE6 is sinking, it's also less important for websites to create special adaptations.

We would much rather use our time making good websites!

We who work with the web are really burning with desire to create the best possible experience for you as a user. Sometimes we succeed, other times we don't quite make it. At those times we try to solve the problems by, amongst other things, to involve the users.

Very often, however, we spend a disproportionate long time to get the websites to work properly in a browser that a small minority of the users are using. this time would be better spent making really good tools for the users, instead of correcting errors that only appear in IE6. That's why we're encouraging the users who are able, to upgrade their IE6 to a later version, or a different browser altogether.

There are alternatives to Internet Explorer. The most popular browsers except IE is Firefox, the Norwegian browser Opera, and even Google's own browser Chrome. You can install these completely independent of each other, even if you're using Internet Explorer or not. They work just fine side by side.


Original article (in Norwegian) posted in the FINN labs blog by Erlend Schei, translated and paraphrased by myself to better fit with my blog


UPDATE:
Microsoft supports the ongoing campaign. Read more at tu.no (in Norwegian)


Articles elsewhere (in Norwegian):
digi.no
FINN.no
dinside.no
tu.no