So the much awaited step by Microsoft Corp. has been taken to eliminate Internet Explorer 6. Don’t be shock its not a hoax but true after their launching of Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft Corp has been on the task. Though you must be thinking that now a days the existence of Internet Explorer 6 is vague but still it has his enough audience and supporter. You may be surprised to hear the “enough” word but yes it is true many of peoples still uses it because lots of windows xp & Windows Server 2003 packs shipped with Internet Explorer 6 as their default browser and many a people don’t bother to upgrade it instead use it .

So its proving a bad year for Internet Explorer 6 making a retirement . Google started the campaign too deciding not to support Internet Explorer 6 anymore for its Google Reader & Google Apps users following which Amazon.com also taken the decision of not to support Internet Explorer 6 any more.

In march some web developers organised a funeral function of Internet Explorer 6 and Microsoft Corp. too send some flowers. you can check the funeral function photos and about at http://ie6funeral.com/ . Its seems like everyone is piling on the Web browser everyone loves to hate, and it looks like Microsoft doesn’t want to be left out by comparing Internet Explorer 6 to spoiled milk, urging users to upgrade to Internet Explorer 8 for security and compatibility reasons you can check it out at http://www.microsoft.com/australia/technet/ie8milk/. According to Net Applications‘ statistics, Internet Explorer 6 is still the Second most widely used browser, with 17.13 percent share of usage in may 2010, followed by Firefox 3.6 at 15.69 percent and IE 8 at the top with 25.15 percent. The newer browsers are gaining on IE 6, but so are rivals including Mozilla’s Firefox, Apple’s Safari, and Google’s Chrome.

Ryan Gavin, head of the Internet Explorer business group. said

“Part of my job is to get IE6 share down to zero as soon as possible,”

Gavin said Microsoft will continue to work with companies to move legacy applications to more modern versions of Internet Explorer, as well as continuing to highlight the improved security on offer in Internet Explorer 8. For example, a recent campaign run by Microsoft Australia compared using IE6 to drinking milk nine years past its sell-by date.

Yet, despite such efforts, Microsoft has announced that it won’t be bringing Internet Explorer 9 to Windows XP, leaving users of that operating system without access to the most modern browser.

Nevertheless, Gavin insists that Internet Explorer 8 is making strong progress. “The momentum we’re seeing with IE8 is palpable,” he said. “It’s the world’s fastest growing browser.”

Ryan Servatius, senior product manager for Internet Explorer, said

“What we’re doing with the outreach is help users understand how to protect themselves against social engineering threats that exist and to help people understand how Internet Explorer 8 puts people in control of their own privacy online,”

“The best thing a user can do to advance the Web is to help move people off IE 6,”

So Lets farewell Internet Explorer 6 who once changed the face of the internet in its youth it did defeat the awful Netscape and brought some semblance of W3C standards to developers. Despite Internet Explorer 6 having passed away here, let’s not forget that it not going to leave us so soon. Still officially died but its ghost will be somewhere beyond the horizon, and will be haunting us in the days to come.