Overview

When IE6 was released, it included a amount of enhancements over its predecessor, Internet Explorer 5. It and its blueprint engine Trident are appropriate for abounding programs including Microsoft Encarta. IE6 bigger abutment for Cascading Style Sheets, abacus abutment for a amount of backdrop which ahead had not been implemented and acclimation bugs such as the Internet Explorer box archetypal bug.6 In Windows XP, IE6 alien a redesigned interface based on the operating system's absence theme, Luna.

In addition, IE6 added DHTML enhancements, agreeable belted inline frames, and fractional abutment of DOM akin 1 and SMIL 2.0.7 The MSXML engine was aswell adapted to adaptation 3.0. Other new appearance included a new adaptation of the Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) which alien IExpress, a account to actualize self-extracting INF-based accession packages,8 Media bar, Windows Messenger integration, accountability collection, automated angel resizing, and P3P. Meanwhile, IE6 alone abutment for XBM angel files, and in 2002, the Gopher agreement was disabled.9

IE6 was the a lot of broadly acclimated web browser during its tenure, before Internet Explorer 5.x. At its aiguille in 2002 and 2003, IE6 accomplished a absolute bazaar allotment of about 90%, with all versions of IE accumulated extensive 95%. There was little change in IE's bazaar allotment for several years, until Mozilla Firefox was appear and gradually began to accretion popularity. Microsoft afterwards resumed development of Internet Explorer and appear Internet Explorer 7, added abbreviation the amount 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 broadcast alone from Windows (IE 6 would be the endure standalone version);10 it would, however, be connected as a allotment of the change of Windows, with updates advancing alone arranged in Windows upgrades. Thus, Internet Explorer and Windows itself would be kept added in sync. However, afterwards one absolution in this appearance (IE6 SP2 in Windows XP SP2, in August 2004), Microsoft afflicted its plan and appear Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 SP1 in backward 2006. Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 was the endure adaptation of Internet Explorer to accept "Microsoft" in the title: after versions afflicted branding to "Windows Internet Explorer", as a acknowledgment to the allegation of anti-competitive attached of Internet Explorer and Windows aloft in United States v. Microsoft and the European Union Microsoft antagonism case.

On March 4, 2011, Microsoft apprenticed web users to stop application IE6 in favor of newer versions of Internet Explorer.11 They launched a new website alleged IE6 Countdown, which would appearance how abundant allotment of the apple uses IE6 and aims to get humans abroad from IE6 and upgrade.