Much Ado About IE6
Here at Digg, like most sites, the designers, developers, and QA engineers spend a lot of time making sure the site works in IE6, an eight-year-old browser superseded by two full releases. It consumes time that could be spent building the future of Digg. Here’s what we’re gonna do — and not do — about it.
Should Digg block IE6?
Currently, IE6 usage accounts for 10% of Digg visitors and 5% of page views on Digg. While this is down from 13% and 8% a year ago respectively, IE6 still accounts for a fairly large portion of Digg usage. That said, a lot of time is spent by Digg engineers supporting site activity like diggs, buries, and comments in IE6, and while it accounts for 5% of site traffic, IE6 accounts for only 1% of diggs, buries, and comments.
IE6 as a percentage of all browsers
| Month | Visitors | Page Views | Diggs | Buries | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2008 | 13% | 8% | 3% | 4% | 5% |
| Jul 2008 | 13% | 8% | 3% | 3% | 4% |
| Aug 2008 | 13% | 7% | 2% | 3% | 4% |
| Sept 2008 | 12% | 7% | 2% | 2% | 3% |
| Oct 2008 | 12% | 6% | 2% | 2% | 3% |
| Nov 2008 | 11% | 6% | 2% | 3% | 3% |
| Dec 2008 | 11% | 6% | 2% | 2% | 3% |
| Jan 2009 | 10% | 5% | 2% | 2% | 3% |
| Feb 2009 | 10% | 6% | 2% | 1% | 2% |
| Mar 2009 | 10% | 5% | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Apr 2009 | 10% | 5% | 2% | 1% | 2% |
| May 2009 | 10% | 5% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Jun 2009 | 10% | 5% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Based on the amount of activity and the relative rate of its decline, we’re likely to stop supporting IE6 for logged in activity like digging, burying, and commenting. Users of IE6 would still be able to view pages — just not logged in. This won’t happen tomorrow, but we’re thinking about doing it soon. If you have an opinion on this, hop into the comments.
Should Digg prompt IE6 users to upgrade?
A message suggesting the IE6 user upgrade seems like a logical approach. Then we wondered, “With a number of sites showing upgrade messages to IE6 users, why haven’t they already upgraded?” To find out, we ran a message to IE6 users on Digg asking, “Have 45 seconds? Help Digg by taking a quick three question survey.” The three questions were:
- What browser(s) do you use at work? (Please choose all that apply.) [IE, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Chrome, Other]
- What browser(s) do you use at home? (Please choose all that apply.) [IE, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Chrome, Other]
- You are currently using Internet Explorer 6. Why?
Based on the 1571 results, people use IE6 much more often at work.
Browser usage at home/work
| Location | IE | Firefox | Opera | Safari | Chrome | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 56% | 46% | 5% | 15% | 15% | 4% |
| Work | 90% | 19% | 2% | 3% | 7% | 3% |
This goes directly to why most folks use IE6: they don’t have a choice. Three out of four IE6 users on Digg said they can’t upgrade due to some technical or workplace reason.
IE6 usage reasons
| I can’t upgrade because my computer runs an old version of Windows (2000, ME, or 98). | 7% |
| I can’t upgrade because I don’t have administrator access on my computer. | 37% |
| I can’t upgrade because someone at work says I can’t. | 33% |
| I don’t feel a need to upgrade. | 17% |
| I prefer IE6 to other browsers. | 7% |
Giving them a message saying, “Hey! Upgrade!” in this case is not only pointless; it’s sadistic.
We’re committed to developing to Web standards and building new ways to help you discover the best of the Web. Keeping an eye on what technologies folks use and why they’re being used is a big part of it.
Slainte,
Trammell