Microsoft say support for IE6 will continue for the next four years Google has begun to phase out support for Internet Explorer 6, the browser identified as the weak link in a "sophisticated and targeted" cyber attack on the search engine. The firm said from 1 March some of its services, such as Google Docs, would not work "properly" with the browser. It recommended individuals and firms upgrade "as soon as possible". Google threatened to withdraw from the Chinese market following the attacks, which it said originated in China. Hackers used a flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) browser to target the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. 'Key functionality' Following Google's revelations, the French and German governments advised their citizens to switch to a different browser until the hole had been closed. Microsoft reacted by quickly updating the browser, nearly three weeks ahead of its regular security update. However, Google has now said it is going to phase out support for the browser "starting with Google Docs and Google Sites". It said that as a result, some "key functionality" of the applications would not work when used with IE6. Google Docs is the firm's answer to products such as Microsoft Office, whilst Google Sites allows people to create web pages. "The web has evolved in the last ten years, from simple text pages to rich, interactive applications including video and voice," wrote Google's Rajen Sheth in a blog post. "Unfortunately, very old browsers cannot run many of these new features effectively." Threat downplayed Around 20% of web users still use the nine-year old browser, including many UK government departments. But many developers want to see the browser phased out as soon as possible. The online campaign ie6nomore, supported by more than 70 web firms, says that because the browser does not support modern web standards it restricts what developers can do and is "holding the web back". Microsoft has said that it will support the browser until 2014. Microsoft has released a fix for Internet Explorer and recommended that customers install the update as soon as possible or update to the latest version of the web browser for "improved security". Microsoft normally issues patches monthly but the high-profile nature of the attacks led it to act more quickly. Market share The UK government downplayed the threat and said there was "no evidence that moving from the latest fully patched versions of Internet Explorer to other browsers will make users more secure". However, Microsoft took the unusual step of patching the hole nearly three weeks ahead of its regular security update. The new patch is available via the Microsoft Update site and will also be fed out to those who have their machines set to update automatically. All versions of Internet Explorer will receive the update. Microsoft has admitted that it has known about the vulnerability "since early September" 2009 and had planned to patch it in February. The bad publicity has allowed rivals such as Firefox to gain market share. According to web analytics company StatCounter, Firefox is now a close second to Internet Explorer (IE) in Europe, with 40% of the market compared to Microsoft's 45% share. In some markets, including Germany and Austria, Firefox has overtaken IE, the firm said. Mozilla, the foundation behind Firefox, has just released the latest version (3.6) of the open-source browser.
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Google has started phasing out support for Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), following a hacking attempt that exploited an IE6 vulnerability, despite the flaw being fixed promptly.

From March 1 on, some services, such as Google Docs, will not work "properly" when accessed from the browser. Google recommends that both firms and end-users upgrade "as soon as possible". Google now only officially supports Internet Explorer 7+, Firefox 3+, Chrome 4+ and Safari 3+.

Hackers exploited a weak spot in Internet Explorer to find the contents of Gmail accounts of human rights activists in China. Following this, both the French and German governments advised that users should switch to a different browser until the flaw had been plugged.

Microsoft issued a patch quickly after the revelations, pushing out a scheduled update just under three weeks earlier than they had scheduled. The software giant normally issues updates once a month, but the high press coverage led it to run an unscheduled update. However, Microsoft admitted that they knew about the problem "since early September", and were planning to patch it in February, leaving the hole open for five months.

 Rajen Sheth, the Senior Product Manager for Google Apps, said in a blog post that the web had "evolved in the last ten years, from simple text pages to rich, interactive applications including video and voice", and that "very old browsers cannot run many ... new features".

20% of users still use the browser, released in August 2001 in order to complement the then-new Windows XP operating system, including many governments. Microsoft will support the browser until 2014, although the browser has attracted strong criticism among people in the web industry. 

The bad publicity garnered from the attacks has allowed rivals, such as Mozilla Firefox and Google's own browser, Chrome, to gain market share, allowing the open-source Firefox, of which a new version (3.6) has just been released, to claw a 40% share, close to overtaking Microsoft's 45%.

Last July, Google also dropped IE6 support from the popular video sharing site, YouTube. Popular sites, such as Facebook and Digg, have also dropped support. IE6 does not support several key technologies, making compatible web-design hard to do. For example, it does not render partial transparency in png images, and many site designers must work around the fact that Internet Explorer 6 does not support many important parts of the cascading style sheets (CSS) family of standards, which is how the majority of websites are designed.