For all you that are using Internet Explorer 6 (IE 6) you should have been prompted before reading this article to upgrade your version of IE 6 to IE 8. Well done for those of you who have taken the leap and joined the rest of the world. For those of you who chose not to upgrade to IE 8 please read the following topic very carefully for the reasons as to why you should upgrade to IE 8.

Internet Explorer 6, which was released in 2001 and since has been updated twice by Microsoft Corp.(IE 7 and IE 8), IE 6 is crippling the Internet's potential and slowing down the online experience. IE 6 also gives designer/developers a collective headache, because they have to write special "hacks" into Web code to accommodate an outmoded browser. Which ultimatlly pushes up costs which are passed onto the client. However, these days a good developer/web company will check with the client to see if they want their website developed in IE 6, if not, then your project will come at a better price.

As any Web developer will tell you, working with IE 6 is one of the most difficult and frustrating things they have to deal with on a daily basis, taking up a disproportionate amount of their time, IE 6's support for modern Web standards is very lacking, restricting what developers can create and holding the Web back.

Microsoft has consistently recommended that consumers upgrade to the latest version of their browser, the company said. "Internet Explorer 8 offers improvements in speed, security and reliability as well as new features designed for the way people use the Web."

The Facts at a glance

1. IE 6 is 8 years old! 
2. Microsoft has brought out two new versions, IE 7 and now IE 8
3. IE 6 is not as secure as IE 7, IE 8, Firefox and Chrome
4. IE 6 is not as fast as all the other browsers 
5. IE 6 does not support modern web standards
6. IE 6 does not have all the new features which the newer browsers do

For more information please follow the links below

cnn.com
infoworld.com