Q. I have begun to notice that many websites are not displaying correctly on Internet Explorer 6. From time to time this happens with Scoilnet too. Is there a problem?

A. At the moment Scoilnet should be perfectly okay on Internet Explorer 6 but it will not always be the case. As Microsoft releases new versions of Internet Explorer - they released IE8 in test format last January - support for older versions is not maintained. Internet Explorer 6 has now been released for 10 years and as Microsoft ceases its support usage of IE6 carries some security risks.

Web developers have to make allowances for various browsers (IE, Firefox, Safari, Opera etc) when programming websites and as Microsoft rolls out new versions the developers will stop supporting the old versions.

This will happen for Scoilnet too. From mid-summer onwards we will not be able to guarantee that Scoilnet will be viewable properly through IE6.

Schools should therefore look to update their Internet Explorer browser. Most school users will not be able to do this themselves and will need to contact their network administrator. You can update your Internet Explore browser to IE7 or IE8 at the Microsoft website.