Why the websites we build don't support IE 6

Top row from left to right: Safari, Firefox, Chrome. Bottom row: Opera, Internet Explorer 8

This is the error message you will see if you visit a ground(ctrl) website with IE6.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6  (IE 6) is old software by any measure. It was released in August 2001, two years before MySpace was launched, three months before the first iPod was introduced, and one month before the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States.

Older web browsers can’t provide the same level of experience that modern web browsers can. Because IE 6 lacks support for many web standards introduced over the past decade, it is not possible for ground(ctrl) developers to provide a rich internet experience to the majority of the users of our system that are running modern web browsers. Supporting IE 6 slows progress and cripples innovation.

Popular websites and services like YouTube, Facebook, and Gmail have also stopped or intend to stop supporting IE 6 in the near future for these reasons. Google announced it’s intention to drop support for IE 6 for it’s web application services starting March 1st of 2010.

While much of the content on our websites is accessible to older browsers, we do not guarantee a problem free experience when using them. Instead, we urge visitors our websites to use a newer web browser, such as Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Opera, or a newer version Microsoft Internet Explorer (currently at version 8 as of this writing). All of these web browsers are 100% free, and with the exception of Internet Explorer 8, are available for Mac OS X and Windows XP, Vista, and 7.

ground(ctrl) encourages you to update your web browser often to keep your computer safe, and to ensure you can take advantage of all the new things the web has to offer. Welcome to the modern internet, ladies and gentlemen. You are in for a great show.