Microsoft is celebrating new data showing that the use of Internet Explorer 6 in the US has dropped below one per cent, but the UK still has some way to go before it ditches the browser.

The Redmond giant has been keen to get rid of the browser for a while and launched the IE6 Countdown site last March to help accelerate the process.

The site encourages IE users to drop version 6 of the browser, launched in 2001, and upgrade to version 9, the latest stable release of the browser.

"We hope this means more developers and IT Pros can consider IE6 a low-priority at this point and spending their time having to support such an outdated browser," said Microsoft director of Internet Explorer marketing, Roger Capriotti, in the firm's Windows blog.

"IE6 has been the punch line of browser jokes for a while, and we've been as eager as anyone to see it go away."

Full story: V3.co.uk