Microsoft promises standard-compliant IE8
Aiming to demonstrate that its commitment to interoperability goes beyond fancy statements, Microsoft said Monday that it is shifting its plans for the next version of Internet Explorer to make the program more friendly to Web standards. The software maker said that a planned standards compatibility mode will now be the default rendering engine when IE8 makes its debut. Microsoft has already said that the new browser is capable of passing the Acid2 rendering test. “We think that acting in accordance with principles is important, and IE8’s default is a demonstration of the interoperability principles in action,” IE general manager Dean Hachamovitch said in a blog posting.
With IE8, Microsoft plans to have three rendering modes: the new standards-compliant mode, the IE7 rendering engine, as well as an option for displaying older Web sites. Because of the default shift, Web sites that want IE8 to use its IE7 engine will have to add a tag to their site’s code. Microsoft noted that there are some legal reasons for changing course. “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,” Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said in a statement. Microsoft hasn’t said when the final version will be out, but a beta version of the browser is due out in the first half of the year.
Source: ZDnet
Comments(45)
IE7 sucked big time and kept crashing. when will IE8 beta come out anyway?
microsoft take firefox
Lets hope so.
firefox owns ie8-9-10-11, whatever it may be
i like ie7: fast, clean, light, standard, all websites work on ie7, then webmasters (somethimes) see if it works with ff.
i have FF, opera, k-meleon, avant and ie7, but i use ie7.
Hey Sizzla hows the adware and spyware going lol
get fastfox if you thin firefox is slow
IE 5,6,7,8, … whatever which version will stay for the casual surfers
FF with his addons is the way to go n/o
Yeah… that made perfect sense!
@5 sizzla: You have no idea what you are talking about. Serious web developers follow web standards (means websites render as intended in Firefox, Safari etc) and THEN apply “hacks” and stuff needed to make it work in IE. Only reason we bother at all with IE is that our customers want the sites to work for the majority and unfortunately the majority don’t know better than to use IE.
“We think that acting in accordance with principles is important, and IE8’s default is a demonstration of the interoperability principles in action,”
OMG it only took them like 10 years to realize that. Not bad for such a small organization as Microsoft with it’s limited resources. Hope this isn’t another pile of MS BS. Maybe we can finally use our time to develop sites instead of patching them for IE.
@9 uraloser, you are absolutely correct, I develop websites and apart from a few times, it is indeed IE that messes up and requires code alterations / hacks in order to render the page CORRECTLY.
“then webmasters (somethimes) see if it works with ff.”
No, ask any DECENT webmaster who works with code that bows to web standards and it is IE that is badly made, the majority of the time.
Hopefully this move (if done right) will create less work for web developers, but unfortunately not for many years as we will still have to consider older versions of IE.
Microsoft deserve no thanks for this move, they are far too late at implementing these standards into the worlds most popular (but worst?) browser.
*yawn* I’m shocked anyone with 1/2 a modicum of sense has ever used IE for longer than it takes to get on the web and download a proper browser, damn IE has always been a crappy excuse of a browser, I can pretty much guarantee 8 will be as bad as IE always has been/always was.
“firefox owns ie8-9-10-11, whatever it may be”
No, Firefox owns a ridiculously high amount of the RAM you purchased, for no apparent reason.
50mb to display this page and google news. Unfixed for 2+ years.
Latest firefox versions have problems with memory leaks and javascript support! I had problems both in XP an Vista so I moved back to IE7. Just google “firefox sucks 2008″ and see that other users had this problems!
does not really matter, i don’t use IE.
IE best browser ?! For your information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid3
Get a proper OS too:
http://www.ubuntu.com/
@12: My IE6 uses 59,4MB to show the same 2 pages. Not counting any components integrated in Windows that uses your RAM whether you are running IE or not.
@13: It’s correct and I’m not saying FF is perfect in every way. But at least Mozilla admits the problem and hopefully it will be fixed soon with version 3.
@14: You are right, it doesn’t matter to the users. The ones using IE now won’t be able to tell the difference. It only matters to the web developers.
@17 :What does memory leaks has to do with cache? It has to do with bad programming! Firefox 2.0.0.11 was the last version that worked fine!
“We think that acting in accordance with principles is important, and IE8’s default is a demonstration of the interoperability principles in action,”
… you took ye time didn’t ya?
No medels given to Microsoft for finally catching up. Maybe a ‘welcome to the club’ pat on the back instead.
firefox is much unstable as ie.. go get a live fan boys! they both suck!
I think I’ll stick with Mozilla . After Microsoft announced its pirate sniffing update I’m not too happy to see the launch of this. Maybe another step towards Bill gates plan for world domination. How do we know it’s not to research our online activities and shut down file sharing for good. Call me a skeptic but i don’t enjoy the idea of giving all power to just 1 company
“After Microsoft announced its pirate sniffing update I’m not too happy to see the launch of this.”
@22: Yeah microsoft shouldn’t try to stop the piracy of their products after putting millions into the development of their software, they should add a free download link on their website.
@23 lol
@22: will you let bill gates go already?he left the scene!i really admire the guy even tho i hate some of the things microsoft does!and you cant blame them for trying to control piracy a little!if you ever developed anything and put it up for money you would understand the pain tht piracy is!i mean no1 can stop it! even they know that.. but if there has to be a control over whats ruining your buisness! anyway if microsoft really wanted to control piracy they shud hav lowered their prices!
just moved from firefox to ie7 coz of the damn memory leaks!
love the browser,beats the crap outa ie7 but hate it boggin down my system after i browse a few web pages and open a few tabs!
@23 Good response TQD a tough comment to respond to.
there is already the acid 3 test guys!
Firefox offers customization/optimization. I also like putting quik links in the tab bar. Mozilla baby.
Jesus christ, guys! Read the headlines in the newspaper! HELL HAS FROZEN OVER!
ff only advantage over ie7 is amount of great addons and themes. which can be disadvantage of we count resources wasted on all of that crap. i used to ff and using it daily but ie7 is just better if you remove few addons from ffs
ok thanks god, finally developing websites for IE without getting frustrated. I hate it that you have to write code that works (almost) for all browsers and another just for IE. Firefox rules
I see nerds
Microsoft continue to piss in the wind with new releases of IE. I’ve moved to Firefox (a standards compliant cross-platform browser) many years ago and have never looked back.
Do people still use Internet Explorer?
Firefox is better, hands down. There have been multiple instances in my Technology class where people have used IE when told not to and their computer ended up getting a virus. IE runs all scripts, even harmful ones, unlike Firefox which has a built in filter. The same web pages were loaded in Firefox and no computers got viruses.
promises remains promises
FF rules.
Adam jones, thats the point. I am unable to understand why any people usin that crappy ie. I pointed it to “malicious software”.
If all web developers would remove all of their IE hacks then people would see what crap browser IE really is. ASP suxxxs!!
@37: What do ASP got to do with this? ^^
woow great news Micro$oft fIrEfox 8
@ #16. i second you on that MS suck bigtime. people think you have to pay for quality. well, i have been using firefox & ubuntu which came out around the same time, and dangit! i saw the light! i am happy to say that my installation of MS Windows NT on my laptop crashed. i am also happy to say that i lost my installation/recovery disk for the laptop.
BEEN USING UBUNTU/FIREFOX ever since. i have no need for proprietery software. i am open. OPEN SOURCE that is!
So Microsoft just realised they don’t want to get fined in Europe again, lol.
And a huge O RLY is in order ! Just wait until microsoft makes versions for other OS. NOT
ie8 just downloaded it passed acid 2 i use ie8 when FireFox don’t work hey Microsoft allow script blocking on demand and mabey people would use. swiched to firefox 4 months ago with the aid of extensions i have not had a single virus
great to hear their finally making a version wich will work with the web standards. Too bad many users will stick to ie 7 or 6 for now, wich means you have to make it to work for like 3 different browsers in the future..
Well, ive just downloaded and install the beta of IE8, and well. Ive been working on a site for quite a while now, and while it always rendered nicely in ff, safari, and opera, i had to once again, hack it for ie7. So i thought after all the messing around, and new promises, that it would look ok in ie8. oh no. it looks worse than anything ive ever seen. nothings in the right places, and the css i used i know works, but apparently ie8 does really weird things with it. ie once again, looks to suck for the next 2 years….whoopie.