6 Reasons You Love IE6

1TOUGH LOVE
Like an old man who makes his kids call him sir instead of daddy, IE6 isn’t afraid to tell you when you’ve done something wrong, and then kicks you in the ass about it, even when every other browser tells you that it’s right. In fact, it will even go so far as to implode your website until you identify the problem. Nothing is better than thinking you’ve just coded the perfect website, until you preview something completely different in IE6.
2POPULARITY
Okay, so IE6 isn’t the coolest browser on the block, but it’s presence is still very prevalent. Sad fact is, most people use this browser out of ignorance, because it’s their first (and sometimes) only portal to the internet after uploading Windows XP.
3THE PIONEER
DHTML enhancements, content restricted inline frames, and partial support of CSS level 1, DOM level 1, and SMIL 2.0 were all new functions that came out when IE 6 was born in April of 2001. Thank IE 6 for your precious style sheets!
4PNG, WHAT IS THAT?
It’s always fun to try and use a .png image in your website, because IE6 likes to place a nice blue aura around the area that is suppose to be transparent. There are png hacks out there that manipulate to browser, but just the fact that you have to hack your png’s for your website is a headache all on its own.
5THE DEATH OF NETSCAPE
Before the development of IE 5 & 6, Netscape 4 dominated the Internet with it’s horrible lack of the ability to alter text and images after a page was loaded, and Netscape’s proprietary LAYER extensions as oppose to the superior cascading style sheets. Soon after Microsoft created a licensing agreement with both AOL and MAC, stomping the already wounded Netscape to death under it’s boot-heel. But in Netscape’s last dieing breath, it went open source, thus creating the most used browser on the internet today: Firefox!.
6IE6 IS IMMORTAL
IE6 will never die. Even with IE8 released and dominating the interwebs, IE6 is still in the shadows, haunting the poor websites that never considered it’s constrictions. I have a feeling web designers are going to be pulling their hair over IE6 for a very very long time.

Casey is a great young talent. His desire to learn, and determination to come up with the best solution makes him an asset to any team.�
“Sad fact is, most people use this browser out of ignorance…”
I agree and don’t agree with this statement. On the one side it’s true that more than half the users on the internet don’t know how to properly define what a “browser” actually is. Then the other (however many percent) is stuck with IE6 because they’re corporate IT department hasn’t been authorized to upgrade to anything past IE6.
I believe the latter is much worse. Because that just proves how out of date large companies actually are when it comes to the internet.
So whose responsibility is it to promote a healthy internet experience? Us. The web designers, developers and junkies. Of course it’s easy to rant and rave that IE6 sucks and drop support, which I actually encourage, but it’s more helpful to link to a modern browser and encourage your users to upgrade instead of just snuffing your nose at them.
Thanks for the post.
I agree with you 100% Kyle. Linking to a more modern browser actually helps in two ways.
1: the website’s integrity is preserved and provides even more user experience.
2: any potential client that comes on the site just got something they didn’t have before, a new browser. This also helps with the psychology of a business transaction. Always give the client something first, be it a business card or what have you, and the client will begin to trust you enough to follow through with a conversion.
Thanks for the impute Kyle!