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YouTube To Kill IE6 Support On March 13

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the if-you-strike-me-down dept.

Joel writes "Over six months ago, Google announced it would start phasing out support for Internet Explorer 6 on Orkut and YouTube, and started pushing its users to modern browsers. The search giant has now given a specific kill date for old browser support on the video website: 'Support stops on March 13th. Stopped support essentially means that some future features on YouTube will be rolled out that won't work in older browsers.'"

18 of 282 comments (clear)

  1. Finally by Dyinobal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And everyone lets out a collective exhale "Finally".

    1. Re:Finally by pedestrian+crossing · · Score: 5, Insightful

      RIP IE6

      Burn in HELL, IE6!!

      --
      A house divided against itself cannot stand.
    2. Re:Finally by nagnamer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah, it looks like any impact will be extremely minimal, at least in the very short term. The only way we'll ever be rid of this thrice cursed browser is when enough company execs can't get their daily fill of kitten jumping into box videos and start asking their IT guys why.

      IIRC, support for IE6 will be phased from most (if not all) Google services including Google Apps, Gmail, etc. So there's still a good chance. Also, this now gives an excuse for a lot of people, preferably including other big players, to do the same, which will hopefully happen sooner than later.

      --
      Every harsh word you utter has the right address. It only sounds harsh because the one on the envelope is the wrong one.
    3. Re:Finally by jellomizer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      For most companies if Google does it then it is good enough for your company too.

      I have wanted to do AJAX based apps for a Long time, however I got a lot of push back. When Google Maps came out I could say that Google is using it. And it gave me a green light to improve my Web Applications.

      That same with IE 6 now that Google isn't supporting it, you can make a case that you shouldn't need to do so as well, And your Boss should be happy to upgrade, Either to Firefox if he is still on Windows 2000 or lower. Or finally push to IE 8. That is unless you work for GE

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    4. Re:Finally by ross.w · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Those same IT guys that have blocked YouTube to preserve bandwidth and impose IE6 so they don't have to update the Company Intranet?

      IE6 is here to stay :(

      --
      If my call is important, why am I talking to a recording?
  2. It's about goddamned time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Why'd they wait this long? Stupid niggardly corporations can't even update a free browser and the rest of the world is supposed to accomodate them? Yeah right.

    1. Re:It's about goddamned time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Stupid mods, read first: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_about_the_word_"niggardly"

  3. One has to wonder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    What if Microsoft was to phase out support on Bing for an old version of Firefox. Would that be MS abusing it's monopoly?

    1. Re:One has to wonder by whisper_jeff · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I doubt anyone would be able to form a convincing argument that Google dropping support for a decade-old browser is any form of abuse of monopoly. They aren't forcing people to upgrade to _their_ browser - just a newer browser. IE7 or IE8 is fine with them.

      Seriously, IE6 is a decade old. In internet years, that's about four or five generations old. It's time to drag corporations* into the modern age, even if they're kicking and screaming the entire way.

      *After all, we know it's only corporations that still use IE6 because nobody in their right mind _chooses_ to remain with IE6 on their personal computers.

    2. Re:One has to wonder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Whether any whackjob would call it abuse or not, it raises the question: would anyone notice?

      Bing has relatively few users. Likewise, old FF versions have relatively few users. And there's further selection bias against the intersection of those two small groups.

      Nobody has made the horrifically stupid and fiduciarily irresponsible decision to pay extra in order to create intranet web apps that require users to use an old version of Firefox. The situation for IE6 is fundamentally different than every other browser in the history and breadth of the web. IE is one of Microsoft's lock-'em-into-a-legacy solutions, and a lot of incompetent planners happened to fall for that one.

      We can only hope that someone learned the painfully obvious lesson. Of course, not everyone did. My own state government is spending tax dollars to develop NEW systems that are dependent on proprietary Microsoft locks, and it's pretty sad that no one is able to stop them.

    3. Re:One has to wonder by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's time to drag corporations* into the modern age, even if they're kicking and screaming the entire way.

      Actually, this will most likely not have ANY affect on Corporate use of IE6, as most Corporation Masters hate things like YouTube as Time wasters. So it is with great glee that they will continue to demand using IE 6 for as long as they can.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  4. Hooray! by headkase · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The thing about supporting obsolete technology forever is that the people who want the support will always want the support forever. Sometimes, you just have to cut them loose because that is the only way to get them to move to something better. And once they are on something better they'll wonder how they got along without it - with the cycle repeating. Of course some of their outdated applications will need to be updated but really does it always have to get to the point where you insist you need "Windows 95" forever?

    --
    Shh.
  5. Re:w00t! by Elektroschock · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As long as html5 is patent-free, ok. Otherwise it is clearly unacceptable.

  6. And businesses lose out!!! by catherder_finleyd · · Score: 2, Insightful

    YouTube is increasingly becoming an important tool, especially in marketing and training. For example, search for "PMP Certification", "ITIL", "iso 9000" on YouTube. Not to mention any number of technical skill areas.

    1. Re:And businesses lose out!!! by delinear · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Not to mention that it's trivial for businesses who don't want their users watching videos to simply block the site at the firewall. Why throw out all the additional benefits of a newer, standards compliant browser just to save your admins typing one line in a config file? Not to mention if Youtube ever did make the site completely unusable to IE6 users by implementing a UI they can't access, it would be a couple of hours before a bunch of opportunists threw up sites offering Youtube content with IE6 support using embedded Youtube videos.

  7. Re:Next up, IE7 by BenoitRen · · Score: 5, Insightful

    pixel perfect layout

    If you want to be standards compliant, you'll throw away the outdated notion of a pixel-perfect lay-out. It's all about flexible lay-outs.

  8. Re:Next up, IE7 by KlomDark · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Amen brother! Now if we could just get rid of all the sucky "web designers" with their pre-historic web concepts.

    "Here's a cool picture of a web page I made with Dreamweaver, now you have to make it work for real, and don't take to long and it has to look exactly like my picture." - I got so sick of that crap. Little newb idiots that don't get the concept of liquid layout and insist on "pixel perfect".

  9. Re:I think I'll cut support too. by commodore64_love · · Score: 2, Insightful

    >>>will simply see a screen telling them they need to upgrade.

    Why do that? Why not just simply treat IE6 users the same way you treat IE5 or IE4 users (give them the webpage, but it may not render properly).

    Maybe they have a good reason for not upgrading (like owning a PowerMac or other old computer that won't anything but IE5 or IE6).

    --
    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall