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You have likely already seen this video. Google interviews a number of people in Times Square to see if they can answer the basic question: What is a Browser? Less than eight percent guessed correctly, and you can be reasonably sure that figure translates well into the general public. When it comes to the Internet, one of the single most integral pieces of the experience often gets overlooked.

I say that because of what other numbers tell us. Outside of our wonderful tech-filled bubble, only a small percentage of Internet users keep their browsers up to date with the latest releases. A significant number of them still use Internet Explorer 6, a browser released on August 27 of 2001. Let me repeat that for emphasis — there are Internet users with a nine year old browser. We as a society typically do not keep our cars (or spouses; see ‘divorce rates’) around for that long, why on earth would we hang onto something that can be updated for free?

There are two reasons for keeping “old” browsers around. The first is “because we have to.” Some institutions bought in so whole-heartedly into the nifty-yet-proprietary features that IE6 brought with it that it is cost prohibitive to test and fix their systems to work with any other browser, even Microsoft’s latest offerings. The much maligned “box model” that IE6 uses in its rendering engine can turn normal Web sites into useless piles of text and images. Web designers by and large despise* fixing IE6 issues. The outlook for this group is a bit bleak: until money is invested in freeing systems from the IE6 shackles, a nine year old browser will continue to be one that we have to contend with and work around.

The second reason for keeping older browsers around is simply not knowing an alternative. As I said earlier, an Internet browser by its very nature is supposed to sit quietly in the background while you interact with the Web sites that it retrieves for you. The only time you are reminded that there is a browser there at all is when something goofs up. Keeping the browser updated is a lot like organizing the garage or taking down the Christmas lights — sure, it needs to happen, but what is it hurting right now?

The answer: it can be hurting a lot. Older browsers are no longer supported by the companies that made them, and are often the target of malicious attacks on the Web. It follows a simple pattern that shows that the longer a browser has been available, the more susceptible it is to thieves exploiting security holes to steal your personal information or otherwise use your connection as a cover for other attacks. You will see a lot of debate over who has the fastest or most secure browser. We will save that for another time. More importantly than whose browser you use is whether you have updated to the latest version.

Add it to your list of New Year’s resolutions. It will probably be a lot easier to do than some of the other things you have put on it.

Popular browsers:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer (Windows)
• Apple Safari (Mac, Windows)
• Mozilla Firefox (Mac, Windows, Linux)
• Google Chrome (Mac, Windows, Linux)

* Editor: The decorum of this blog does not allow us to run the first string of verbs and adjectives that came to mind.