Google dropping support for IE 6

As a Google apps user I recently received an email from Google advising me that support for IE 6 (Internet Explorer), along with some other older browser versions (Safari and Firefox 2.0) would be dropped in March. If you are a user of Google apps, docs and sites, not to mention gmail, you will need to upgrade.

No one really should be using IE 6. Its security failings are widely known and missing features such as tabs should goad anyone to upgrading to IE7 or IE8, if they wish to continue using Internet Explorer, rather than Firefox.

In fact a recent eWeek article tied google’s recent announcement to the gmail Chinese hacker incident, where hackers that originated from China got access to gmail accounts of Chinese dissidents, apparently exploiting security holes in IE 6 to place some malware for download onto user’s computers. Google in their blog simply points out that the web is evolving at a fast rate and the newer browser versions offer a better experience.

The change will first roll out on google docs and sites on March 1st and then work its way through calendar and gmail through out 2010.

Bottom line? It’s time to upgrade.