Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Wednesday, 05 March 2008 08:52
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect, (a post previously held by Bill Gates himself) said that: “IE8 has been significantly enhanced, and was designed with great support for current Internet standards. This is evidenced by the fact that even in its first beta, IE8 correctly renders the popular test known as ‘Acid2,’ which was created by the Web community to promote real-world interoperability”.
Ozzie continued that: “Our initial plan had been to use IE7-compatible behaviour as the default setting for IE8, to minimize potential impact on the world’s existing Web sites. We have now decided to make our most current standards-based mode the default in IE8”.
Further, Ozzie noted that: “This is obviously a complex issue, with important considerations on both sides. On one hand, there are literally billions of Web pages designed to render on previous browser versions, including many sites that are no longer actively managed”.
“On the other hand, there is a concrete benefit to Web designers if all vendors give priority to interoperability around commonly accepted standards as they evolve. After weighing these very legitimate concerns, we have decided to give top priority to support for these new Web standards”, continued Ozzie.
Ozzie closed his remarks by reminding us that Microsoft actually has something called
‘Interoperability Principles’, outlined on February 21, 2008 saying that: “In keeping with the commitment we made in our Interoperability Principles of being even more transparent in how we support standards in our products, we will work with content publishers to ensure they fully understand the steps we are taking and will encourage them to use this beta period to update their sites to transition to the more current Web standards supported by IE8.”
Brad Smith, Microsoft’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel also weighed in and said that: “While we do not believe there are currently any legal requirements that would dictate which rendering mode must be chosen as the default for a given browser, this step clearly removes this question as a potential legal and regulatory issue”.
Smith’s comments are likely a nod to the US and European regulatory authorities, the European side of which slapped a 1.4 billion euro fine onto Microsoft last week for not adhering to their 2004 ruling that Microsoft was in breach of their competitive regulations and the actions Microsoft promised they would undertake to resolve the issue.
Microsoft’s actions come just before its MIX 2008
conference to be held on March 5 to 7 in Las Vegas.
Microsoft says that “MIX is an intimate opportunity for cutting-edge technical, creative and business strategists to engage Microsoft in a conversation about the future of the web. Come explore the latest wave of opportunities and help redefine the boundaries between: content and commerce, PC and TV, Windows and the Web”.
Clearly, Microsoft wanted to ensure that web standards in IE8 would be a positive, and not a negative, leading into their now ‘sold out’ Mix event, and it looks like Microsoft may well have succeeded in this regard.
So, what are some of Dean Hachamovitch’s (IE chief) thoughts on why they made the change? Please read onto page 3.
