Internet Explorer 6 - Définition

Introduction

Internet Explorer 6
Développeur	Microsoft
Première version	6.0 (27 août 2001)
Dernière version	6.0 SV3 (6 SP3) (5 mai 2008) [+/−]
Environnement	Windows 98 , 2000, Me, XP, 2003
Langue	Multilingue
Type	Navigateur web
Licence	MS-EULA
Site Web	Internet Explorer 6
modifier

Internet Explorer 6 (abrégé IE6) est la sixième version majeure d'Internet Explorer, un navigateur internet développé par Microsoft pour les systèmes d'exploitation Windows. Il est sortie le 27 août 2001, peu après la finalisation de Windows XP.

Il s'agit du navigateur par défaut livré avec Windows XP et Windows 2003 Serveur et est aussi disponible par après pour Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows ME et Windows 2000. IE6 SP1 est la dernière version d'Internet Explorer disponible pour Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98,Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, and Windows 2000. Même si il a été dépassé par d'autres versions d'Internet Explorer, Microsoft continue a le supporter sous Windows XP SP3.

Cette version d'Internet Explorer est largement critiquée pour ses manques de sécurité et son manque de support des standards web modernes, elle apparait donc souvent dans des listes des "pires produits technologiques de tout les temps", avec certaines publications qui la qualifient de "logiciel le moins sécurisé sur la planète". A cause d'un pourcentage important du public internet qui utilise encore le navigateur obsolète, des campagnes ont été établies pour encourager les utilisateurs à upgrader vers une nouvelle version d'Internet Explorer ou bien de passer à un autre navigateur. Certains sites internet ont largué le support d'IE6 entièrement, le plus connu est Google qui a cessé de supporter IE6 sur certains de ses services^,.

Aperçu

When Internet Explorer 6 was released, it included a number of enhancements over its predecessor, Internet Explorer 5.5. IE6 improved support for Cascading Style Sheets, adding support for a number of properties which previously had not been implemented and fixing bugs such as the Internet Explorer box model bug. In Windows XP, IE6 introduced a redesigned interface based on the operating system's default theme, Luna.

In addition, IE6 added DHTML enhancements, content restricted inline frames, and partial support of DOM level 1 and SMIL 2.0. The MSXML engine was also updated to version 3.0. Other new features included a new version of the Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK), Media bar, Windows Messenger integration, fault collection, automatic image resizing, and P3P. Meanwhile, IE6 dropped support for XBM image files, and in 2002, the Gopher protocol was disabled.

IE6 was the most widely used web browser during its tenure, surpassing Internet Explorer 5.x. At its peak in 2002 and 2003, IE6 attained a total market share of nearly 90%, with all versions of IE combined reaching 95%. There was little change in IE's market share for several years, until Mozilla Firefox was released and gradually began to gain popularity. Microsoft subsequently resumed development of Internet Explorer and released Internet Explorer 7, further reducing the number of IE6 users.

In a May 7, 2003 Microsoft online chat, Brian Countryman, Internet Explorer Program Manager, declared that Internet Explorer would cease to be distributed separately from Windows (IE 6 would be the last standalone version); it would, however, be continued as a part of the evolution of Windows, with updates coming only bundled in Windows upgrades. Thus, Internet Explorer and Windows itself would be kept more in sync. However, after one release in this fashion (IE6 SP2 in Windows XP SP2, in August 2004), Microsoft changed its plan and released Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 SP1 in late 2006. Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 was the last version of Internet Explorer not to have "Windows" in the title, with later versions shifting to "Windows Internet Explorer", as a reaction to the allegations of anti-competitive tying of Internet Explorer and Windows raised in United States v. Microsoft and the European Union Microsoft competition case.