Why Microsoft IE8 Being Web Standards Compliant Will Not Matter
Yeah you heard that right. Microsoft is finally getting stick out of ass when it comes to web standards. The problem is the majority of people on the internet will not or cannot upgrade their IE6 and IE7. A lot of people who use computers are at offices or schools and can not up grade their IE as IT departments have blocked upgrades and installs of software.
What Microsoft should have done is created a patch for IE6 and IE7 to make those browsers web standard compliant. It will be 20 years before the majority of people are off IE6 and IE7 and switched to IE8 so this release will not matter. Until then we will all have to bite it and continue the *html hacks.
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 (using the http header/meta tag approach described here).
there is a concrete benefit to Web designers if all vendors give priority to interoperability around commonly accepted standards as they evolve
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.
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