While Internet Explorer 6 on Windows XP will be supported until July 2010, the writing on the wall is fairly clear, and Microsoft is encouraging users to upgrade to IE 7 or IE 8. Additionally, we have been recommending alternative browsers for years. Like in the mid-90’s the browser wars are heating up, and you have several options to choose from when considering a browser for general web surfing. My personal favorite is Mozilla Firefox, which I use on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, but I regularly use Google Chrome (mostly for accessing Google’s services) and Apple’s Safari when on my Macintosh. I also use Opera from time to time, but it is different enough from most of the other mainstream browsers
If you have not yet looked at one of these other browsers, I strongly recommend you do. If you are wedded to Internet Explorer, then you should at least be on version 7, if not 8. Also, several of our clients have been told that they must use Internet Explorer for an application that they use which requires it. What’s shocking is that several of my clients have vendors who insist that they continue to use IE 6! This, despite the fact that it’s easily the least secure mainstream browser still available today. If you are unlucky enough to be in this group, I strongly recommend you put pressure on your vendors who are requiring IE 6, and tell them to support current versions, or better yet, make their application less browser-specific so that it works with other platforms like Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari.
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