Orkut Asks Users to Stop Using IE 6: A Very Good Idea
I don’t have IE 6 on my system so couldn’t really check on this bit, but there’s no reason to doubt Mashable anyway. So in an interesting move, Orkut greeted its visitors suggesting them to upgrade their existing IE 6 browser to something more modern. On Google’s part they did well to not just push Chrome but also IE 8 and Firefox, in fact it put IE 8 as the first choice for users to click on for a better browsing experience.
Why this call for upgrade – well for most of us who read (and write at WATBlog) it’s really a no brainer, IE 6 is old and grumpy enough to not doesn’t display sites properly. It’s not just the speed or lack of tabs and apps though. Open any web stylesheet and you will find either a hack, or a patch for IE 6. In other words it makes matters difficult for web designers and developers to experiment on the web without having to make special accommodations for an old browser.
Orkut has predominant usage in India and Brazil, and a lot of Indian users for sure (for that matter even around the globe) IE 6 is the most used browser. Effectively it meant that the oldest browser around these days had the maximum users simply because they knew none better – ignorance not quite a bliss. Given the fact that Orkut has a wide reach (even mainstream) it can perhaps introduce better browsing as a concept to a lot of users thus helping them move out of the IE 6 era. This perhaps might be the best way to make them upgrade if at all.
Of course, Google does have its vested interests in doing this, which is to get more users adopting Chrome. However, this move isn’t a below the belt shot at capturing market share evident from the way the alert pops. In fact a lot of web publishers and quite a few Twitterers have begun a web movement called IE 6 no more. The agenda of course is to persuade people to stop using the browser and move to something better. It is a pity though that a browser like Opera didn’t get the exposure it could have clearly commanded.
IE 6 is a 8 year old browser, in web years that’s an era twice over. I have spoken about web standards earlier and how we need combined efforts to make the web better. Taking IE6 out of everyone’s computer systems is a step required in that direction.
It is beneficial for to only companies like Google or chrome but the web community in general. Better browsers open up avenues for better web publishing, which enriches user experience and therefore better engagement. More users and happy ones at that with browsers capable of handling web innovation is the best news online advertisers can have as well. Better experience also means better chances of online sales on a tangential note. For all these and more, say no to IE.
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