[axod]

No, IMHO they wouldn't. What do you think the browser share is for GMail? I'd say likely 40% or so on IE at the very most. If that. If they stopped supporting IE, some of those would stop using gmail, but a large number would upgrade to a standards compliant browser. They'd still be left with maybe 80% of their original users.

>> That's why I use Mibbit rather than downloading an IRC client.

You have good taste ;) FYI, On Mibbit, IE usage is at 26%, and falling.

In webapps, IE is a very small minority, and falling fast.

[zimbabwe]

But Mibbit appeals to a very niche technical community. Gmail's market share is less than 20%, if I recall correctly.

A lot of people using IE right now are either forced to use it for corporate purposes - my mother has to use it on her laptop - or they're completely illiterate. If something messes up, they'll see it as Gmail breaking.

The solution is graceful degradation, but that won't force people to switch.