As recently reported by mainstream media outlets like CNN, there is a vocal and vigorous campaign to kill IE6.  At first, I pumped my fist and looked around for someone to high-five.  Having developed both intranet and extranet web applications for over a decade, one of the most frustrating and time-consuming aspects of my job is supporting cross-browser compatibility.  It used to be just a "simple" cross-browser problem.  But because of the differences in client script engines, DOMs, HTML rendering, and CSS behaviors, it has become much more complex.  Now I have to consider Firefox 3.0.x, Firefox 3.5.x, Safari, IE6, IE7 and IE8.  And that's just if I want to support the major players.  I'd absolutely love it if we could ignore everything except Firefox 3.5.x and IE8.  My job would be much simpler.  Right?  But if I'm honest with myself, I'd probably complain just as much about the differences between two browsers.

Then I start thinking about WHY people are still using IE6.  Perhaps I'm wrong, but maybe it just works for them.  There are many environments out there with several hundreds (or thousands) of machines that need to be monitored and managed.  Having configured these machines to function properly against stable intranet applications, there's no pressing need to upgrade.  From an IT management perspective, why should a functional infrastructure be destabilized so that the browser can render an external e-commerce site?  How about the individual (forgive the stereotype) grandmother who doesn't obsessively update her machine?  She just wants to enjoy browsing the web and interacting online.  Should she disrupt a comfortable setup so we web developers can add more features with less work? 

What happened to "the customer is always right"?  Look at the statistics.  According to CNN's article, 15% to 25% of all online users are still running IE6.  When was the last time anyone could afford to disregard or denigrate 25% of their customers?  I suspect that the organizations paying attention to "legacy" browser users will reap benefits, but each will need to decide if the added maintenance and development costs are justified.  And against my initial reaction to the push to kill IE6, I'm going to disagree.  Let it live as long as it can.  Just don't ask me to promote it.