Get off of AltaVista and shut down your PS1, kids. There’s something important you need to hear. You need to think about upgrading your version of Internet Explorer. Are you still using Internet Explorer 6? Good god, why are you still using Internet Explorer 6? We know it’s a version of the extremely popular browser that’s been largely out of vogue for quite a while now. But we know there are still a few of you who, for whatever reason, still desperately cling on to the relic of Internet past. Maybe it’s nostalgia. Maybe it’s apathy. Maybe it’s simply fear of change. Whatever the reason may be, it’s over. Your time is up. The Government is now recommending you either upgrade to a modern version, or switch browsers. This means if you’re still using Windows XP, you’re officially not as cool as the Government.
The Government’s warning applies to old versions of Internet Explorer, and comes after software giant Microsoft announced it would no longer be providing security updates for its wildly popular, but now 13-year old Windows XP operating system.
Not only has the Australian government, through its Stay Smart Online alert service, warned users against the potential security risks this poses, but also the US Department of Homeland Security AND the UK’s National Computer Emergency Response Team have issued similar warnings. They all recommend solutions that include patching the security flaw as soon as Microsoft releases a fix, or switching to a different browser such as Mozilla’s Firefox or Google’s Chrome.
So for those few of you reading this through Internet Explorer 8 on a Windows XP PC, we certainly admire the patience it must have taken to wait the 3 hours needed to load this page on your Compaq Presario. But jeez louise, for the love of all things Internet, upgrade your shit. Please. We’re begging you. Sure Firefox was homophobic in the past but like go get Chromed or upgrade to all things Windows 8 and say hello to the future.
Photo: Alexander Hassenstein via Getty Images.
