Previously, Microsoft has said that Internet Explorer is deeply ingrained in Windows, with both being dependant on one another. Well, with the death of IE6 coming soon, and IE7 & 8 able to work with Windows XP, it’s obvious that it isn’t THAT much a part of the OS as Microsoft has stated… Not at all.

Microsoft officials wish the company didn’t have to support IE6 any more. It’s time-consuming, costly and fraught with incompatibilities. But Microsoft can’t simply pull the plug on IE6 for the simple reason that many of the company’s most powerful business customers are still using it. These customers know IE6 doesn’t comply with standards. They know that it’s nowhere near as secure as later iterations of IE or some other more recently introduced browsers from Microsoft competitors. But there are some harsh realities surrounding IE6.