Die already!
Microsoft has launched a countdown website, which urges users of Internet Explorer 6 to ditch the 10 year old web browser.
In a bid to effectively kill its own product, Microsoft has said it wants IE6 to be used by less than 1 percent of the world's population, while the others upgrade to newer Microsoft browsers, no doubt.
Microsoft said its website is "dedicated to watching Internet Explorer 6 usage drop to less than 1% worldwide, so more websites can choose to drop support for Internet Explorer 6, saving hours of work for web developers."
It added: "Currently one in four Internet Explorer users continue to use IE6, a browser which lacks modern web standards and provides an unsatisfactory user experience."
Microsoft's new site has a nifty interactive map showing usage of the aged browser across the world. Apparently 12 percent of the world's population used IE6 in February, with China making up almost 6 percent of that figure.
While just 3.5 percent of Brits use IE6, over a third of China's web users rely on the old browser. In fact it is currently only Finland and Norway which have hit Microsoft's target of less than 1 percent of users surfing the web via IE6.
Microsoft is urging people to ‘join the cause' and ‘educate' others, rather dramatically adding: "Friends don't let friends use Internet Explorer 6" because of its flaws and security issues.
Microsoft is presently believed to be preparing to launch IE9, which it said "promises to be highly focused on modern standards," yet it seems it will settle for people moving to IE8 for the time being.
However, with other browsers available that are attracting new users, most notably Google Chrome, Microsoft will have to be careful that IE6 users don't upgrade to a rival's offering.
