Internet Explorer 7 is coming up on its first birthday. Recently, there have been several stories about Internet Explorer and why more people have not upgraded to the latest version. For those who truly are not aware, Internet Explorer 6 causes tons of problems in the web development world. It renders pages so strangely at times that hours can be lost trying to make a particular element display acceptably. We’re beyond the point where we expect a page to look the same in every browser, but we still do require it to render acceptably.

As CSS Juice aptly points out “Internet Explorer 6 is the internet’s ball and chain.” Its holding back forward momentum in development, but only because web developers still have to support it. Internet Explorer 6 increases the cost of every web development project that has to support it.

Blue Dice details the 6 major reasons Internet Explorer is a headache to develop for. (His words are a little harsher.) Internet Explorer 6 is 6 years old. That’s forever in technology terms. Six years is longer than most of us keep actual computers around. So how is this browser living across workstation upgrades?

Well, Particle Tree talks about the compelling reasons that prompted the average user to really take issue with previous versions of Internet Explorer. Remember the days with rampant viruses, pop-ups, spyware and browser hijackings? Back in 2004 and 2005 these were huge problems for Internet Explorer and many software vendors sought to remedy these problems with pop-up blocking toolbars and new improved PC security software. The reasons to upgrade away from IE 6, for the average user, were dramatically reduced.

That’s unfortunate for us, the web developer. Internet Explorer 7 offers so much more in terms of reduced rendering quirks which translates into less debugging of web sites. So here is my plea. Please, upgrade to Internet Explorer 7, at the least (or better yet, Mozilla Firefox). It’s time for us to let Internet Explorer 6 go. Upgrade your coworkers, upgrade your friends and family. We need to act now. PC World reports Microsoft and Mozilla are already working on their next browser versions to be released next year.