Internet Explorer is the black sheep of the browser community. It’s about as standards compliant as the overweight kid in the school athletics team, and as insecure as Fort Knox with the front door open. Annoyingly though it’s still out there and being used.
Now there might be some light at the end of the tunnel. Social networking giant Facebook is planning to drop support for chat on their site for IE6 when the beta for IE9 appears next month. This will be as part of a wider overhaul of their chat service.
They say…
Since its launchtwo years ago, Chat has grown from a small feature into one of the most widely used tools on Facebook. People around the world use it to share quick updates with people nearby and to stay in touch over long distances with friends and loved ones. And the more that people chat, the more we need to do to keep the application running smoothly.
The biggest improvements come from changes that aren’t supported on older web browsers. After evaluating the alternatives, we’ve decided to make rapid improvements and provide the best Chat experience possible, which means we will no longer support Internet Explorer 6 browsers.
This news is certain to be welcomed in all quarters, not the least by Microsoft who are forced to continue supporting the browser because so many of their corporate volume-licence customers are still using it.
Oddly, the removal of Facebook chat might help these companies upgrade to newer browsers when their employees begin to complain about not being able to access a service they use all the time.
Still though IE6 hangs on by its fingernails, avoiding death at every stage and instead just having the longest and most drawn-out demise in tech history.
If you’re still using IE6 and want to use Facebook chat you have until September 15th to get yourself a new browser. After this time it’ll all be quiet with your friends.
Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter.Related Articles:
Facebook Chat Emoticons BarFacebook Chat and Google Talk on the Desktop
Facebook Introduces Group Chat, Video Calling, Design Changes
Facebook Blocker Extension, Block Facebook Scripts
Will Google Kill the URL Bar in Chrome?
IE6 disables facebook chat? Seems like an incentive for corporate IT depts to keep it around.
Actually, IE is the most secured browser. If you don’t believe me, do some research.
In regards to the Facebook IE6 support: I can guaranty you that Facebook didn’t stop their support because they don’t like IE6. I think that the fact that FB will end IE6 support when IE9 beta is released and the fact that Microsoft own part of FB (at least 5%), is related.
“Oddly, the removal of Facebook chat might help these companies upgrade to newer browsers when their employees begin to complain about not being able to access a service they use all the time.”
Companies allow its work force to use FB at work, that’s weird.
Annoying? Annoying only to Microsoft. Anybody else who is annoyed should seek help.