How to detect if a user is running IE 6?

Question

I need to be able to tell if a page is being viewed in IE 6. How can I do this in javascript while ignoring version like 7, 8, or other browsers?

Answer 1

straight from the horse's mouth (and one googling away):

function getInternetExplorerVersion()
// Returns the version of Internet Explorer or a -1
// (indicating the use of another browser).
{
  var rv = -1; // Return value assumes failure.
  if (navigator.appName == 'Microsoft Internet Explorer')
  {
    var ua = navigator.userAgent;
    var re  = new RegExp("MSIE ([0-9]{1,}[\.0-9]{0,})");
    if (re.exec(ua) != null)
      rv = parseFloat( RegExp.$1 );
  }
  return rv;
}

Answer 2

You could use conditional comments.