For the last few months I have noted on average across my clients sites that IE6 has now slipped to below 40%. Okay this is just a magical number. But for me it has great significance. This is the tipping point for an aging browser on the decline. At this point it goes from the pixel perfect section on the browser compliance matrix to the section major resemblance. This is the grey zone between perfection and the old fall back graceful degradation.
Microsoft told us via a very careful explanation from the standards representatives working with them (Eric Meyer et al) that Internet Explorer 8 would have a switch (meta tag) that would have to be in place to render the new features (including JavaScript improvements), otherwise the rendering engine would be fixed at Internet Explorer 7 levels. In other words to render IE8 as IE8 you have to have the metatag switch.
This was primarily in response to the IE6 to IE7 compatibility backlash by the corporate sector; as IE7 broke a lot of Intranet applications. We all bitched and grumbled, Jeremy Keith got up on his soapbox. But basically we all go on with it, understanding (but not liking) Microsoft’s positioning. That was in the past.
