When Should You Stop Support for Software?

hahafaha asks: "I am currently working on a website for a small organization. We (I am not alone in this) have a beta version ready, and are currently testing the site on browsers. We have tried all of the big browsers (Firefox, IE, opera), as well as other browsers, such as lynx, links, w3m and even NetFront. So, when can one decide that they will stop supporting a system. Obviously, going (for example) down to IE 1 is crazy, but is IE 3 crazy? This is not only relevant to web design but to any programming at all. When, for example, can you say that I will *not* support a certain version of Windows. Can you say that now about Windows 98? How about 95?"

Comments

1st think, your org needs a new webmaster

[cinnamon colbert]

1) for 99% of websites, worrying about the small group of people with opera and lynx and windows 95 is pointless; so, you should be replaced by someone with more judgement, or less time on their hands

2) If your website caters to that small group of users among whom lynxs is actually a significant %, then you have to support them, but you should know this already, so your org needs a more savy web master.

I mean, jeez, give me a break. No organization can afford to support all the platforms, unless you are more interested in how good your website is then in actually communicating with your users. People make wrong choices, or wrong choices get made for them (betamax, DEC rainbow, ...) all the time, and that is their problem.
Grow a little thicker skin, and say screw you to the wankers who use opera or lynx or whatever. Life is to short.

So far as I know, there is no reason anyone should use anything other then ie or firefox, other then their personal psycho problems about software. draw a line in the sand, and show some backbone.

reason to use = it does something important. last time i checked, opera did not do anything i or anyone else actually needed