As someone who writes css, I am particularly frightened by IE7. And I can
imagine there are a lot of frontend developers and staff out there who
spend significant time on fixing things for this niche audience, when they
could be working on more constructive things. I came across this service
today which has started to levy a a surcharge on IE7 users [1] and it got
me thinking.
6% of wikimedia project page views are from IE6/7 - because of the
following:
- IE6 ships default with XP
- Legal users with SP2+ can upgrade to IE8
- If you have 90s era hardware, no SP for you. Can only be solved by buying
some new hardware (or switching to linux)
- IT admins who dont know much about IT and have kept the workforce hostage
through their ignorance. Can be solved if the workforce and boss demands it.
- People new to computers and are not really sure how to use the mouse.
They need to be told IE7 is bad and how to upgrade
- Those without an internet connection. Can be solved by not using the
internet.
- IE7/mspaint hipsters. No solution.
As one of the most visited places on the internet, it is probably in the
best interests of the planet that we decide its no longer worthwhile to
support this fallen angel. Maybe it time to start showing a notice to IE7
users that their days are numbered and wikipedia may no longer work as
expected unless they move forward in their lives. It has to happen some
day, so why not now and save the internet a lot of pain and suffering?
[1]
http://www.kogan.com/au/blog/new-internet-explorer-7-tax/
--
j.mp/ArunGanesh