The site I work on at work gets requests like this pretty often:
“When will you support Internet Explorer [version number way lower than 11]?”
And, the answer is, “Never. A very small part of our users use IE[-3], and the cost would be prohibitive.”
And their answer to that is typically something like, “Our IT guys won’t let us install Chrome or Firefox or upgrade windows and get IE[n].”
At first I felt bad for these people, and told my bosses that we could support IE[-3], gave them an estimate for how long it would take to do, and told them how it would affect the design. After all, as a long-time Mac user, I used to get these “you’re a second-class netizen” messages all the time, and I know it’s frustrating. But now…I don’t feel bad at all, and here’s why:
From Microsoft’s website, “Windows Internet Explorer [-3] is also no longer supported, so if you use it (or any other browser) to surf the web, you might be exposing your PC to additional threats…”
This is IT’s job, right? To keep the technical resources running and safe? No one thought it was a huge surprise that XP was discontinued (and along with it IE[-3]), and they gave us plenty of warning. Computers and OSes have a predictable useful life. Upgrades should be planned spend.
If you’re using IE[-3], the web sucks for you. You’re not seeing most of the cool (and useful) new stuff that people are making. Supporting your out of date browser means we can’t make as many cool (and useful) things as we want to, because each one takes twice as long. Selfishly, I like making cool stuff. Not selfishly – The 80% of users who are using modern browsers are better served by the stuff we make using modern techniques.
What you’re asking for, when you ask for support of your out-of-date browser is that we slow the pace of creating cool (and useful) things for everyone, to accommodate the pace of your IT staff not doing their job (or you not wanting to have a conversation with them about it, which I’m sure is often the case).
When viewed through that lens, I no longer feel bad for these people. I will not be their enabler. Talk to your IT staff about getting you the tools that you need.