If it is actually referring to IE6, in some ways IE's stagnation was helpful. Prior to IE6 was an arms race-like flurry of different browser vendors haphazardly slapping on features to their products, and the IE6 code freeze we saw thereafter gave standards-writers like the W3C and WHATWG time to catch up writing specifications for the web.
It was a good thing. Not just for the standardization bodies, for everyone. The "Fierce Idiocy of 'New!'"[1] died down for a little while and briefly it was possible to rely on a stable development environment. Features are great if they're the correct ones and they're done well, but stability and reliability are even nicer.
Comments
If it is actually referring to IE6, in some ways IE's stagnation was helpful. Prior to IE6 was an arms race-like flurry of different browser vendors haphazardly slapping on features to their products, and the IE6 code freeze we saw thereafter gave standards-writers like the W3C and WHATWG time to catch up writing specifications for the web.
It was a good thing. Not just for the standardization bodies, for everyone. The "Fierce Idiocy of 'New!'"[1] died down for a little while and briefly it was possible to rely on a stable development environment. Features are great if they're the correct ones and they're done well, but stability and reliability are even nicer.
1. http://www.constitutionaldaily.com/index.php?id=737%3Athe-fi...