Stuff about how you "must" upgrade, spanning countless posts
You know what? I would rather WRITE MY OWN BROWSER than upgrade to IE7 or 8.
I don't really care what you'd "rather."
There is not a single reputable source in the world that advocates the continued use of IE6.You rage about bloat. I point out that the features improve the browsing experience--yes, even yours; there's no downside to multiprocess browsing in IE8 or Protected Mode in IE7/IE8. But you ignore it, because it doesn't fit your preconceived, reality-averse ideas.
You rage about "graphical effects." I point out that you can turn all of them off. You ignore it, because it doesn't fit your preconceived, reality-averse ideas. Furthermore, third-party shells such as
Maxthon exist for IE7/IE8 to wrap the standard interface so you don't have to see the
big bad glass effects if you don't want to.
This has gone well into comedic territory. You have no facts or data to back up your claims, although you have many vague assertions. And that would be fine, if you were content to go sulk in your corner and cry that CSS2 and CSS3 don't work for you and your ever-shrinking minority browser (which doesn't support anything
ratified, let alone
suggested, after the year 2000), you could just sit there and let everybody else pass you by. But no, you're actually trying to
argue that this is a good thing, and it's really kind of funny. This is not "computer security
by the computer illiterate," sir. This is "computer security
for the computer illiterate."
Just stop. You're embarrassing yourself.
Maybe if they have a mode where you can install them and they will do nothing, not take over file associations previously claimed, nor edit any file IE6 uses, nor disable it at all, nor start any mere fragmet of itself when not explicitly started, much less the whole thing.
That would defeat the point of
getting rid of the gigantic gaping security clusterfuck that is IE6. Let me put this in the most unambiguous terms I can:
IE6 is not a modern web browser. IE6 is insecure. IE6 breaks websites. And IE6 is no longer the majority browser and nobody really gives a shit if anything works in it anymore. Continued use of it is foolish on quite literally every count.
In fact, I have a little folder, just sitting there, titled WB. Guess what it contains? Just enough code to draw text, and a no-longer-in-the-flow-of-control function that retrieved web pages, and the whole thing mostly ignored.
Uhm...bravo? That has nothing to do with anything related to this thread.
Fact: Upgrading is not allways possible for these, and more, reasons:
-Cost
Oh, please. What kind of idiot pays for a browser? IE7 and IE8 are free. As are alternative browsers such as Firefox or Chrome. Even Opera is free these days. This "reason" is irrelevant.
-Hardware
There is no computer that passably runs XP SP2 that cannot run IE7 or IE8. I run IE8 (and Chrome) without a hitch on a 1GHz Pentium III with 512MB of RAM. They run as well as can be expected.
-Personal Prefrence
Personal pref
erence is well down the list on "things that matter," and that goes double for when you are an active danger to everyone else because of your own willful negligence. I noted above that it is rather trivial to deposit a JavaScript payload on someone running IE6. That trumps 'personal preference'. I noted that IE6 is essentially incompatible with much of the modern web, and your irresponsible continued use of it causes problems for essentially everyone, yourself included. That trumps 'personal preference,' unless you are willing to be the ignored little segment of the Internet that I know you aren't willing to be. And, perhaps most ghastly of all, your use of it puts
other people at risk, because your computer is a bleeding entry vector for all manner of malware that seeks to spread to other systems.. That trumps 'personal preference,' too. This "reason" is irrelevant.
-Company Policy
The only even remotely good reason, and it is an indictment of the IT department. But you're trying to shift the goalposts now. You're going "oh, shit, he's knocking down everything I say, I'd better throw up something that's only vaguely related!" Because you and I both know we're not talking about business computers. We're talking about home computers. As such, this "reason" is irrelevant.
-Backwards Compatibility
The
overwhelming amount of web applications will support IE7 or IE8. IE7 in quirks mode even renders essentially similar to IE6. Outside of the business environment, you will not find a currently-maintained web application that does not operate correctly with IE7 or IE8 (and few that don't work with another browser line). As you're attempting to move the goalposts again--guess what? This "reason" is irrelevant.
EDIT: I just did a quick check over my university's "IE6 only" web application. It works fine in IE8. Also works fine in Chrome. While ones that load ActiveX may not work outside of the IE line of browsers...they'll work for anything in that line. You just check a box to enable it.
Do you know what the funny thing is, though? Everywhere except in the cavernous recesses of your head,
programming for IE6 is called "backward compatibility."
-Laziness
A single file download and execution? Please. This "reason" is irrelevant.
-Having to reinstall things
Settings port seamlessly from IE6 to IE7 or IE8. This "reason" is irrelevant.
-Losing all of the little tweaks that made the whole sstem better, overall
You have not significantly "tweaked" IE6 in any meaningful way. I phrase it as I do because I know pretty well what
can be done with IE6 (both from a programming perspective and a security perspective), and there's not a whole hell of a lot. You can enforce a number of group policies related to IE6, but they also pertain to IE7 and IE8. There's absolutely nothing here, so this "reason" is irrelevant.
Can you argue away that list? I doubt it. Maybe one or two, but the bulk of that list will remain.
You doubt? Oh, that's nice. How's it feel to be wrong?
I'm terribly sorry that you aren't the l33t h4xx0r you think you are, but you are not special and you are not somehow immune to the enormous mess of problems that is IE6. Use it if you like--I'm cheering for Conficker, anybody want to lay down any bets?--but don't try to pass it off as anything other than personal hardheadedness, because that's really all this boils down to. And you
certainly should not advocate that others follow your bad example, because that is the height of irresponsibility.
So. Are you done yet, or do you have more nonsense to knock down?