MS celebrates as IE-6 loses market share

For once Microsoft is happy that its prominent browser- Internet Explorer is losing its grip on the market! Well we're not talking about the latest iterations of IE but the venerable IE6. It's no secret that MS is keen on retiring the iconic web browser for sometime now. The recent statistics show that the use of IE6 is in decline and the number of its users is less than 1% of the total market in the US and several other countries with most users already upgraded to a newer edition or a different browser altogether. So Microsoft's IE team is having a party and a cake. But the celebration might seem a bit premature as there is still a considerable number of users worldwide using this year old browser. China for one has a huge number, a whooping 25% of its internet users are still using IE6! There are two questions here, why MS wants to retire IE6 and why people still use it? The answer of the first one is simple, there are numerous security loopholes in IE6 which makes it pretty vulnerable to threats like malwares and hackers. It is very important to use a secure web browser nowadays considering the overgrowing threats in the internet and because the browser is the primary tool for net activity it becomes the target of choice for cyber criminals. The reason to why IE6 still is so much popular among users can be attributed to its long history and success. Just like the Windows XP, IE6 has become almost a legend in its category and had a long reign. Many of those who are still using it also have Win-XP in their machines. Also there may be some enterprise or corporate clients using it under old contracts. But like all good things it has to come to an end and according to MS, it's about time.

News source -http://www.techpowerup.com/157983/MSIE-6-Usage-Drops-Below-1-in-The-US-Microsoft-Celebrates.html, http://windowsteamblog.com/ie/b/ie/archive/2012/01/03/the-us-says-goodbye-to-ie6.aspx