Support for Internet Explorer 6 continues following the release of Internet Explorer 7

With the debut of Windows Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft wants to make sure that customers understand that support for Internet Explorer 6 will continue, based on the Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy.

Under the Microsoft Support Lifecycle, Internet Explorer is supported as a component of the product with which it shipped. The support timelines for Internet Explorer will be inherited from the shipping product and its service packs. This means:

• Versions of Internet Explorer that shipped as a part of the operating system will be supported with the support lifecycle of the operating system.
• Updates to Internet Explorer that are shipped as a part of the operating system service packs will be supported as part of that service pack. Customers must upgrade to a supported operating system service pack to continue to receive support for Internet Explorer.

What does this mean for Internet Explorer 6?

There will be no change to how Internet Explorer 6 is supported. The following operating systems have Internet Explorer 6 installed and will follow the lifecycle of the operating system: Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1.

Versions of Internet Explorer 6 that shipped as a part of the operating system or its associated service packs will continue to follow the support lifecycle of the operating system. Any updates to Internet Explorer 6 that are shipped as a part of the operating system service packs will be supported as a part of the service pack. Customers must upgrade to a supported operating system service pack to continue to receive support for Internet Explorer.

Details about Internet Explorer can be found at http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifesupsps/#Internet_Explorer. The Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy continues to provide five years of Mainstream Support and five years of Extended Support for Business-Developer products, whereas Consumer products receive five years of Mainstream Support. The Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy can be found at http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle.