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Comment by julio_the_squid | Hacker News Reader

I've noticed errors in IE 6 on Live.com and Bing, too. Silly that I spend all this time making our sites work with IE6, and Microsoft themselves have tossed it aside.

As for the general point, I couldn't agree more. I do think Microsoft has intentionally impeded the progress of the open web. They made it clear with the whole Netscape deal that shift away from desktop apps (i.e., win32) towards a system where one can access programs and accomplish tasks equally well on any desktop OS was something they sought to avoid. And why not? They essentially had an obligation to their shareholders to preserve their advantage.

One could see how their interests would be served by making web development more difficult.

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Sorry, but Microsoft hasn't "tossed" IE6 aside. We still support and service it, today. Would you prefer that someone who bought a shrink-wrapped copy of Windows XP at Best Buy 6 years ago suddenly discovers that their computer/browser stopped working as it should, simply because they chose not to upgrade? Would you be happy if Toyota came by and said they refused to fix your car since it was over 5 years old and your only way out was to upgrade?

Trust me, servicing IE comes at a phenomenal cost to us; nothing would make us happier than to have to deal with a smaller matrix to deal with ...

Would you prefer that someone who bought a shrink-wrapped copy of Windows XP at Best Buy 6 years ago suddenly discovers that their computer/browser stopped working as it should, simply because they chose not to upgrade?

Yes.

Would you be happy if Toyota came by and said they refused to fix your car since it was over 5 years old and your only way out was to upgrade?

That is standard practice in many industries. At some point, maybe not in 5 years but more like 7-10, you will bring your Toyota to the dealership and they'll explain that the part it needs is no longer available. Your options at that point include using aftermarket or salvaged parts, likely installed by an independent mechanic, or to get a new car. Life goes on.

OK, how about a television analogy? Let's say you bought a television 5 years ago, and come to find out that all the local cable and satellite providers have started to only offer HDMI connections to connect your television to. Chances are your 5 year old television doesn't support HDMI which would force you to upgrade.

Beyond being frustrated that your TV is obsolete, you probably won't chose those cable or satellite providers again in the future.

Don't forget the phase-out of analog TV and analog cell phones. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_television_transition

Beyond being frustrated that your TV is obsolete

How frustrated would I be if I could download a brand-new TV from the manufacturer's web site, for free?

Gotta love analogies.

MS Supports most things for 10 years. IE 6 came out in late 2001, so you've got about another year and a half before your argument makes sense.

Would you prefer that someone who bought a shrink-wrapped copy of Windows XP at Best Buy 6 years ago suddenly discovers that their computer/browser stopped working as it should

Yes. Happens all the time. My Toshiba Techra A6 made in '06 will not have win7 drivers released for it - therefore no win7 for me. Life goes on.

This is especially true given that browser upgrades are free

Also - is there a good reason for why ie6 cannot be simply sandboxed into a ie9 tab? This would solve all of the 'corporation are unwilling to upgrade' arguments.

Or maybe a 'portable' version with all the dependencies bundled into one distro so that ie6 could be launched without installation?

There are standalone versions of IE6 (including IEs4Linux) hacked together for web developers, but they tend to break with updates. An official solution from Microsoft might help get corporate customers to use IE9, Firefox, or Chrome for external websites, without losing IE6 for their internal applications.

I was referring to how Microsoft's own flagship sites has scripting errors in IE. I'm sure some part of MS still deals with IE6, and I understand why. Of course they encourage people to upgrade to IE8 when they can.

And actually... yes, I would prefer if some nimrod who is trying to install a copy of XP from 6 years ago has problems with it and understands that they need to run modern software to access the modern internet.

If Toyota was going to upgrade my car for free, as every browser is available for free, why would I have a problem with that?

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