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Fuzzy Logic Microsoft finally decides ‘web standards’ important for IE8
Fuzzy Logic Microsoft finally decides ‘web standards’ important for IE8 | Microsoft finally decides ‘web standards’ important for IE8 |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Wednesday, 05 March 2008 | |
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Page 3 of 3 The IE blog is where developers go to learn the latest about what’s happening in the world of Internet Explorer, and the latest post on IE8 interoperability makes for interesting reading, especially as it gives more detail on why Microsoft changed their stance. Featured Whitepaper
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Hachamovitch’s quotes are surrounded by “curly quotation marks”. He said that: “We’ve decided that IE8 will, by default, interpret web content in the most standards compliant way it can. This decision is a change from what we’ve posted previously”. “Why Change?” “Microsoft recently published a set of Interoperability Principles. Thinking about IE8’s behavior with these principles in mind, interpreting web content in the most standards compliant way possible is a better thing to do”. “We think that acting in accordance with principles is important, and IE8’s default is a demonstration of the interoperability principles in action. While we do not believe any current legal requirements would dictate which rendering mode a browser must use, this step clearly removes this question as a potential legal and regulatory issue. As stated above, we think it’s the better choice”. “We decided to keep IE7’s Standards mode available in IE8. Our thinking was that this facility would be helpful as the web moves gradually from the large quantity of legacy content authored around IE7’s behaviors to a new era of much more interoperable and web standards compliant browsers. We based the decision to have an additional mode in IE8 on our experience with feedback from IE7. Specifically, during the transition from IE6 to IE7, many end-users found pages authored for the previous IE version’s Standards mode didn’t work well with the new version’s Standards mode”. “Our initial thinking for IE8 involved showing pages requesting “Standards” mode in an IE7’s “Standards” mode, and requiring developers to ask for IE8’s actual “Standards” mode separately. We made this decision, informed by discussions with some leading web experts, with compatibility at the top of mind”. “In light of the Interoperability Principles, as well as feedback from the community, we’re choosing differently. Now, IE8 will show pages requesting “Standards” mode in IE8’s Standards mode. Developers who want their pages shown using IE8’s “IE7 Standards mode” will need to request that explicitly”. “Going Forward” “Long term, we believe this is the right thing for the web. Shorter term, leading up not just to IE8’s release but broader IE8 adoption, this choice creates a clear call to action to site developers to make sure their web content works well in IE. This topic is one of many things we’ll talk about with respect to IE8 at MIX this week”. So, interesting times indeed for Microsoft. I wonder what other surprises MIX 2008 will unveil? |
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