Google is continuing its campaign to gently encourage users to upgrade from the severely out-of-date Internet Explorer 6 to a more modern web browser that properly supports web standards and features such as HTML 5 - and it's using YouTube as its primary weapon in the fight.
As reported over on ReadWriteWeb, the advertising giant is looking to end support for Microsoft's aging Internet Explorer 6 web browser - the default browser in Windows XP, replaced by Internet Explorer 7 in Vista - and hopes to encourage users to upgrade via a nag screen.
The message - which will appear every two weeks for IE 6 users - warns that support will officially end on the 13th of March, and offers download links to several alternative browsers. While anyone aware that Google owns YouTube will be unsurprised to see the Chrome browser headlining the list, links are also offered for Opera 10, Internet Explorer 8, Safari 4, and Firefox 3.6 - all browsers which support the HTML 5 standard.
With Google already pledging heavy support for the new HTML standard - with the first project being to move its flagship offline browsing API Gears to HTML 5 - it makes sense that it would want to implement the technology across its video streaming services, which it will struggle to do if users refuse to upgrade their browser.
Interestingly, the company has stated that IE 6 users will still be able to watch videos via YouTube after March, but that certain "new features" will be unavailable until a newer browser is used.
Do you applaud Google's efforts in getting users to upgrade their browser, or should Google continue to support IE 6 - which still holds a not-unimpressive 10 percent market share, putting it way above both Opera and Safari combined - despite its lack of HTML 5 support? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
As reported over on ReadWriteWeb, the advertising giant is looking to end support for Microsoft's aging Internet Explorer 6 web browser - the default browser in Windows XP, replaced by Internet Explorer 7 in Vista - and hopes to encourage users to upgrade via a nag screen.
The message - which will appear every two weeks for IE 6 users - warns that support will officially end on the 13th of March, and offers download links to several alternative browsers. While anyone aware that Google owns YouTube will be unsurprised to see the Chrome browser headlining the list, links are also offered for Opera 10, Internet Explorer 8, Safari 4, and Firefox 3.6 - all browsers which support the HTML 5 standard.
With Google already pledging heavy support for the new HTML standard - with the first project being to move its flagship offline browsing API Gears to HTML 5 - it makes sense that it would want to implement the technology across its video streaming services, which it will struggle to do if users refuse to upgrade their browser.
Interestingly, the company has stated that IE 6 users will still be able to watch videos via YouTube after March, but that certain "new features" will be unavailable until a newer browser is used.
Do you applaud Google's efforts in getting users to upgrade their browser, or should Google continue to support IE 6 - which still holds a not-unimpressive 10 percent market share, putting it way above both Opera and Safari combined - despite its lack of HTML 5 support? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
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