IE6 to receive new Gmail features
The October 2007 code refresh of Gmail delivered features such as AIM integration, colored labels, and group chat. Now, nearly one year later, recent patches to Internet Explorer 6 are finally permitting these features to function on the antique browser.
In a recent posting on the official Gmail blog, Gmail Engineer Jon Perlow said that IE6 was simply too old. Because of its age, the browser could not “handle the complexity of the new code in a way that met our performance and stability goals,” he said.
The major movement in bringing these new features to IE has come from Microsoft. Fixes applied when resolving Microsoft security bulletin #MS08-022 have alleviated some major issues with Internet Explorer’s aging JavaScript implementation. While runaway memory problems had previously led to hangs and crashes, the new patch “fixed a performance problem with how the script engine allocates and frees memory,” continues Perlow. Minor enhancements to Gmail code complete the orchestration needed to newly deliver the old features to the flagging browser.
In closing, Perlow says that they’ve started to roll out Gmail’s new code base to IE6 users. The Gmail team enforces that the newest patches are necessary for the new features to function.
Boo @ supporting end-of-life browsers. Increase the pressure to upgrade. Now, with the imminent release of IE8, is when to start considering an exit from IE6 support, not the beginning of new support for it.
You know it's time to kill a browser when: It takes a year to get new features deployed to it on an insanely-popular service because it's old, broken and awful.
Honestly, the type of people that are still browsing with IE6 are more than likely not the ones using group Googletalk withing Gmail.
Let's move on!
IE6 works perfectly fine for me!
Let's move on!
Seconded.
Let's move on!
But what about little poor old me whose company STILL USES IE6!!!!
wtfgarrbrkrlrlerlelreroflcopter.....
Yes, I think this is more important for those in workplaces, who don't control their own computers.
My workplace is still on IE6, however, I've never had trouble with any of the features of GMail.