Paul Sturgess
Microsoft really don't want to break the Internet
When IE8 is released there is talk of it rendering, by default, as if it were IE7.
A List Apart just released two articles detailing the browser version switching technique that could be implemented in IE8.
The problem is IE8 may be so standards compliant (passing the ACID 2 test) that all the poorly designed sites out there are going to break, and hard, because Microsoft’s previous browsers were so bad at implementing web standards.
So their trick is to make IE8 behave like IE7 and it will be as if nothing changed.
Interesting as well is that early next month IE7 will be rolled out as part of an auto update for large businesses, however, Microsoft are giving administrators every opportunity to by-pass the auto update.
Although Microsoft acknowledge that it is in their interests to get everyone using IE7, if anything, for the sake of better security, they unfortunately still have a duty to provide the alternative for those that require it and I guess you can’t blame them (to an extent).
It would appear someone at Microsoft really doesn’t want to break the Internet, I’m just not convinced they are going about it the right way.
Tags: web, webstandards, microsoft
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