Posted 01/05/10 at 11:30:27 AM by Paul Lilly

For the first time ever, Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 claims more users than any other browser on the planet, including the dated (but still popular) IE6.

According to browser market research firm Net Applications, IE8 managed to wrangle its way onto 20.86 percent of all desktops and devices using a web browser, while IE6 claimed 20.99 percent. However, since 2.8 percent are using IE8 in compatibility mode, that propels Microsoft's latest version to the top of the charts.

Main rival Firefox 3.5 followed close behind at 16.32 percent, less than a percentage point above IE7 at 15.5 percent.  Looking at the overall picture, however, Firefox still has considerable ground to make up, claiming 24.61 percent of the market compared to Internet Explorer's 62.69 percent. Chrome, meanwhile, sits at 4.63 percent, which was enough to push Apple's Safari browser to fourth place with 4.46 percent.

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Posted 07/15/09 at 03:49:04 PM by Andy Salisbury

According to a screenshot taken by an IE6 user who was watching some videos on YouTube, it would appear that support for the browser will be phased out very soon.

The screenshot suggests that an upgrade to a “more modern” browser, including Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3.5.  And, they’re not alone – apparently Digg is looking to cut their support for IE6 as well.

There’s been no official word yet from YouTube, so this information is only as good as its sources (truthfully, folks on Twitter). But, it doesn’t seem illogical, so if it turns out to be true, there’ll be little surprise.

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Posted 01/05/09 at 12:34:10 PM by Mark Edward Soper

Let's face it, web developers. Even if you're the most devoted fan of Firefox, Opera, or Safari, the 800-pound gorilla in the room is still Internet Explorer. Like IE or hate it, your pages had better work properly with it. Unfortunately, you can only have one version of IE running on a test PC at a time...or can you?

Add Virtual PC 2007 SP1 to your Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows Server 2003 or 2008 box, and install your choice  of Windows XP SP3+IE6, Windows XP SP3+IE7, Windows XP+IE8 Beta 2, or Windows Vista+IE7 in VHD format. Now, it's easy to find out which pages make a particular flavor of IE gag, and you can switch between IE versions running in different VMs with the click of a mouse. For more Virtual PC downloads, including release notes, click here.

These disk images work until April 2009, so you have plenty of time to work out page glitches. Not developing websites? No problem! Try them anyway. 

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Posted 01/02/09 at 11:28:14 AM by Mark Edward Soper

TG Daily reports that Google's Gmail is now recommending that IE6 users switch to Chrome or Firefox 3. IE6 users logging into Gmail see a link that says "Get faster Gmail" that takes them to a "Get faster Google Mail with a faster browser" page that provides links to download IE7, Firefox 3, or Google Chrome.

Interestingly enough, if you use IE7, the page recommends upgrading to Firefox 3 or Google Chrome, as well as offering a link to the IE 8 beta.

So, what's up with Gmail and IE? Is IE6 no longer fully supported? For the answers, join us after the jump.

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Posted 09/09/08 at 05:15:45 PM by Paul Lilly

For those who either (A) believe Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 represents the pinnacle of browser design, heralded as being not only the greatest browser of its time, but of all time, leading to a general malaise towards Firefox 3 and 3.1 Alpha, IE7 and IE8 Beta, and Chrome Beta, or (B) are forced to stick with IE6 because of compatiblity issues, work policy, or any other of a handful of reasons preventing you from upgrading, then Google has good news for you.

Recognizing there are still users who surf like it's 1999 (yes, IE6 was released in 2001 but that wouldn't have set up a song reference, now would it?), the gargantuan search company has been hard at work rewriting Gmail's code base to make it more friendly for IE6 users. This means that if you have the latest IE6 updates from Microsoft installed, you should now be able to enjoy previously unavailable features like colored labels, group chat and rich emoticons, invisible mode, AIM integration, Gmail Labs, an updated contact manager, and remote sign out.

Now if only Crytek would upgrade Crysis' code base so the game would run smoothly on our GeForce 3 TI500 videocard, we'd all be happy campers.

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Posted 07/02/08 at 03:38:58 PM by Mark Edward Soper

Framed web pages are everywhere - but IE isn't ready to handle iFrame hijacking. ZDNet's Zero Day blog repots that exploit code is now available online to demonstrate how to perform malicious attacks against IE7 as well as IE6 and even IE8 beta 1. Even if your version of IE is fully patched, it's not ready to handle this vulnerability.

To find out how the threat works, join us after the break.

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Posted 03/05/08 at 10:32:54 PM by Mark Soper

You can now give the future of Microsoft web browsing, Internet Explorer 8, a try. Discover how to try it safely.

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Posted 12/20/07 at 11:12:33 AM by Mark Soper

Singing the blues because Microsoft Security Update MS07-069's done a number on Internet Explorer 6 on Windows XP SP2? We've got the definitive workaround - straight from Redmond.

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