Microsoft’s new website, ie6countdown. com, is a part of company’s sincere efforts to get rid of Internet Explorer (IE) 6.

Microsoft wants IE6 users to switch over to newer versions of the Web browser because the outdated IE6 is buggy and security-lapsed browser and it crashes more frequently.

Microsoft is preparing to launch IE9, but figures show that 12 per cent of IE users in the world are still using IE6. Of the total IE6 users, around half are from China.

Roger Capriotti, the chief of IE marketing, said that they wanted to see IE6 gone for good. Speaking on the topic, Capriotti said, “To demonstrate our commitment to getting rid of IE6, we're launching a Web site.”

Capriotti claimed that the IE9 Beta IE9 Release Candidate had been downloaded more than 36 million times since September.

Apart from China, South Korea, India and Taiwan have higher-than-average IE6 share at 24.8 per cent, 12.3 per cent and 10.7 per cent, respectively.

The software giant wants to hack IE6's share from 12 per cent to merely 1 per cent because it would let more sites and IT pros to make IE6 a low-priority browser.