Google fires fresh broadside in ongoing browser wars

Google is dropping support for Internet Explorer 6 on its Gmail and Calendar services, even though it remains the world’s number one Internet browser of choice – despite the fact that it’s almost old enough to apply for a driving license.

The company has released a statement saying that it will begin running down support from the 1st March onwards. However we’ve already found that Google Docs isn’t working in IE6, so it looks like the process has started already.

If you are one of the 146 million people around the world using IE6 then it looks like it might be time to finally upgrade to a more contemporary browser. However try bearing in mind that Google also intent to start withdrawing support for other outdated browsers later this year.

These include Apple’s Safari 2.0, Firefox 2.0 and even Google’s Chrome 3.0. So whatever you do make sure that the next browser you do download is the most up to date you can get.

This all comes in the wake of those attacks on Google, rumored to be by Chinese backed hackers, which exploited a weakness in IE6 to access secret company data and even hack the Gmail accounts of various Chinese dissidents.

Cynics, however, will also point to the fact that Google’s own browser, Google Chrome, is currently steaming up the browse charts like an X Factor contestant and this will be good news for Chrome as it seeks to recruit more users. So far Chrome has overtaken Opera and Safari to reach third place in the browser charts. Most observers expect it to move above Mozilla Firefox and even challenge Microsoft Internet Explorer at some point over the next five years.

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Image credit: bradybd