Funeral for IE6 Not a Hoax - Being Held in Denver Thursday Night  
by Anne P. Mitchell, Esq. - 1 Comment, Last updated 03/05/2010

The planned funeral for Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) is not a hoax - it really is happening, tonight, in Denver, Colorado. Oh sure, it’s a spoof, but an elegant and well-planned one, to be sure, complete with prizes “for the best IE6 memory & the best dressed!” In fact, the IE 6 Funeral has gotten not just national, but even international attention, being featured in such overseas news sources as Britain’s The Register.

Eulogizes the IE6Funeral.com website, “Internet Explorer Six, resident of the interwebs for over 8 years, died the morning of March 1, 2010 in Mountain View, California, as a result of a workplace injury sustained at the headquarters of Google, Inc. Internet Explorer Six, known to friends and family as “IE6,” is survived by son Internet Explorer Seven, and grand-daughter Internet Explorer Eight.”

According to reports, the “workplace injury” is a veiled reference to fact that IE6 played a (not very illustrious) role in the hack attacks against Google and others known as ‘Operaton Aurora’.

Bear in mind that IE6 is actually being retired and relegated to “unsupported” status by Microsoft.

And it’s about time. Internet Explorer 6 first rolled out in 2001, and has been mooted by more current (and secure) versions of Internet Explorer twice since then (IE7 and IE8), with a third version (IE9) slated for release “soon”. In fact, Internet Explorer 7 was rolled out three and a half years ago, with IE8 being released nearly a year ago, and people are still using the old, insecure, IE6!

The geniuses (?) behind the IE6 Funeral are the good folks at Aten Design Group, a Denver web design firm headed by founder Justin Toupin.

Want to attend?

Says the IE6 Funeral web site, “On Thursday, March 4, 2010, at 7:00 p.m., we’ll gather with fellow IE6 friends and loved ones at Forest Room 5, 2532 15th Street, Denver, CO 80211-3902 to pay our respects.”