The end of IE6

At the beginning of the year Google announced that it would no longer be supporting IE6, as it is the browser identified as the weak link in a cyber attack on the search engine. As a result many of their applications and sites won't work properly in older browsers. Many developers jumped up and down with joy at the news although for some time there have been many campaigns to stop supporting this old browser such as Kill IE6 and lots of sites just showing a page telling the user to update their browser. Even Microsoft have a campaign to end the 10 year reign with the The Internet Explorer 6 Countdown which states that there are 11.6% still using it.

So the question that I have to ask myself, do I stop adding in the hacks and separate stylesheets for it? So many companies still have to use it and really how much hassle is it to get a site working in IE6, if not looking pixel perfect? I started in this industry at about the same time as IE6 was born and so many of the little hacks and allowances for this old boy have become second nature, yet should I not be staying in line with all the big boys and just say no? I guess at the end it is really up to the client and if they want to support it. They are not always right but they are the ones who pay the bills.