Ironic, I know

You don't need to have a finger to count anyone who's having fun supporting IE6/Win when building a web according to web standard. It's just. Plain. Painful. Just look at all the bugs they have to fix in IE7. And if you've been around for some time, you probably have heard the familiar “IE6 is holding back the web” complaint.

Yet, one of the most important thing for any serious web designer to have is, indeed, Internet Explorer 6. Oh, the irony.

Not because we like it (we don't). And not because we can work more efficiently with it (it's exactly the opposite). But it's because IE6/Win is the most widely used browser on Earth.

Which is why it's important to any web designers. Ignore the damn thing, and you're ignoring the majority of your visitors. Support the damn thing, and join the pain.

Me, personally, I just can't lose that IE6. It just has to be in my PC. Which is a dilemma, because IE Seven is coming, with better support on CSS and web standards in general. Problem is, when you're installing that new thing (Release Candidate 1 as of now), then your IE6 is gone.

Which is a no, no.

If you want to have both IE6 and 7 in your PC, then you will need to install the standalone mode, which may or may not be an easy thing (I'm still downloading the stuff right now).

Problem solved? Well, no. Because most likely, IE7's Conditional Comments won't work on a 1-PC, multiple IE environment.

A solution from Microsoft would be to use Virtual PC to install a few copies of Windows in your PC, and have the different browser version there. The catch is, of course, you will have to buy both the Virtual PC and the multiple installation license. Le Sigh.

Another cheaper solution is possible, but you will have to get dirty (and risky), editing Registry and all that stuff.

Moral of the story: well, I don't know. The world could've been a better place, that's for sure.