On Jul 28, 2010, at 11:04 AM, Jonathan Thornburg wrote:
http://www.crashie.com/ - if you're feeling malicious, just include
the one line JavaScript that will make IE6 crash, maybe eventually
the
user will figure it out. (Or maybe not).
Please stop and think about the consequences before using something
like this! People who are still using IE6, Windows 95, etc, are
usually doing so for reasons which make sense in their lives....
I agree 100% with the statement that deliberately crashing other
people's computers is inappropriate. Don't do that.
But the reasons you give for why there are still IE6 installations out
there (low computer literacy, slow connections, etc.) aren't quite
right. Apparently there are many internally-developed applications at
companies that are IE6-only. Often, these were developed by outside
consultants for customers who have no internal development staff.
These things keep the business running, and replacing them would be a
large expense that the companies involved are not in a position to
incur.
One of the biggest and most visible of such applications was the one
that the national realtor's organization used to allow its members to
get access to listings. They resisted doing anything about that for
many years. (I understand that within the last year or so, they
finally had to respond to complaints from their members and redo the
site.)
It will be many years before these internal applications disappear.
They are in a class similar to embedded systems, where replacement of
working stuff is almost never done, and support obligations on
long-"obsolete" software run for decades. Microsoft would love to
forget that IE6 ever existed - what was once their way of dominating
much of the Internet has turned into a millstone around their necks;
but they can't. (Analogies to The Ring of Sauron come to mind....)
An interesting "benefit" that some of the businesses with IE6-only
internal software are finding is that, if they keep their employee's
machines IE6-only, their employees are increasingly unable to access
most Internet sites. Talk about perverse incentives....
-- Jerry
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