Regular readers of our Blog will know that in recent months we have given coverage to (and have been suitably excited about…) the apparent death of Internet Explorer 6. Statistics published by StatCounter last month now indicate that IE6 has less than a 5% market share in the US and Europe.

Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) is a particular version of of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser which has caused web developers headaches for the past decade. Despite this version of the software being over 10 years old – and actually two versions out of date following the launch of 7 and 8 – IE6 remained one of the most popular web browsers until very recently.

The latest statistics indicate that users of the troublesome browser are finally on the decline, with people upgrading to Windows Vista and/or Windows 7 – both supplied with newer, more capable web browsers. The growth of other browsers such as Apple Safari, Google Chrome and Firefox has also had an impact on IE6.

Based on an analysis of 15 billion page views in May 2010, StatCounter’s numbers indicate that IE6 usage in the U.S. has fallen to as low as 4.7% from 11.5% in the last 12 months.

As far as other web browsers go, IE8 holds 30.49% market share in the U.S., followed by Firefox 3.6 with 19.85% and IE7 with 16.64% market share.

The news follows YouTube’s announcement that they are to stop supporting IE6 on the 13th March and Google announced their intentions to stop supporting the infamous browser last month.

Is this the real end of IE6? Probably not – there are still thousands of websites which support IE6 and statistics last month revealed that IE6 still accounts for around 20% of the browser market share. Hopefully this funeral (and YouTube’s decision to drop support) marks the beginning of the end.

The statistics show that in January, Google Chrome grew by 0.57% to 5.20% of the browser market. In contrast Firefox shrunk by 0.20% to 24.41% and IE shrunk 0.51% to 62.18% while Safari and Opera both stayed put.

Browser Statistics – January 2010, Top 10

• Internet Explorer 8 – 22.31%
• Internet Explorer 6 – 20.07%
• Firefox 3.5 – 17.10%
• Internet Explorer 7 – 14.58%
• Firefox 3 – 5.29%
• Chrome 3 – 3.92%
• Safari 4.0 – 3.55%
• Internet Explorer 8.0 – Compatibility Mode – 2.79%
• Opera 10 – 1.65%
• Chrome 4 – 1.16%

For the full list please visit Net Market Share: Web Browser Statistics.

Google will join a long list of top web companies who are refusing to support the ‘buggy’ browser any longer. Initially support will be dropped in Google Docs and Google Sites – with more of Google’s services to follow.

The move is a positive sign for the Web Development Community who have battled for years against the shear popularity of the problematic application. Google’s move follows hotly on the heels of the news that IE6 was condemned a security risk by the French and German governments.

Before you start completely disregarding IE6, don’t forget it still holds a 24.4% market share – regardless of Google’s move, we’re still going to be fiddling with IE6-only Style Sheets for the foreseeable future.