High Tech Household

Google announced this week that it is going to be phasing out support for Internet Explorer version 6 from its Google Docs and Google Sites applications as of March 1.  If you are a user of IE version 6, now may be the time to consider an upgrade or a new browser.  To see what version you have, click on the “Help” menu, and then click on “About.”  This will give you a version number, something like 6.0.1234 or something similar.  It’s the first number that you care about.  If it is version 7 or version 8, you’re OK.  If you are version 6 or lower, you should really consider using another browser, as Internet Explorer 6 is becoming increasingly obsolete.

It is important to note that if you are using FireFox, this doesn’t apply as Google is only dropping support for FireFox versions 3.0 or lower.  Since Firefox prompts the user to upgrade, most Firefox users are up-to-date.  Google is also planning to stop support forr Chrome 4.0 or lower and Safari 3.0 or lower.  For more information on the different web browsers and where to download newer versions, see our primer on web browsers.