What I want from Internet Explorer 8
Mikey 9 comments
It took Microsoft six years to deliver Internet Explorer 6's successor, a move which only came about due to the rise in popularity Mozilla's highly successful Firefox browser and complaints from the web developer community regarding Microsoft's lack of web standards support.
For the uninitiated (and I have touched on this topic previously), Microsoft and standards don't mix. Internet Explorer's support for web standards is putting it nicely, abysmal. Microsoft is also on record as admitting that IE7 fails the Web Standards Project's browser compatibility test.
MS are caught between a rock and a hard place with the release of IE7, as standards support is still as pathetic as it ever was. It's not that they are technically incompetent, its that they are in unfortunate position, as deploying a browser that addresses all the outstanding standards issues will do something nasty indeed: it will break a hell of a lot of web sites.
Who to blame for this is not an easy question to answer. A long time ago web developers had no qualms using proprietary IE code and practices. Today we all know better, with standards and accessibility being of primary concerns. The funny thing is, developing web sites to standards and accessibility practices is not a big a deal as some might suggest. It's no different than adopting any other new process into your workflow.
So, IE bashing aside and getting back to the subject at hand, what do I want from IE8? I want standards supported all the way and yes, that means a lot of web sites will break. But not my web sites or that of any other standards nazi, so no skin off my nose there.
It seems the only way to get some web developers away from the dated thinking of developing sites for 'IE only' might be to force their hand, and if that means them waking up one morning to the phone call of an angry client who can't access his web site on the new browser, then so be it. Hey don't get angry at people like me. We have been pimping web standards evangelism for years.
Would Microsoft do this? Only in our wildest dreams.
J. Twilliger
Thursday 9th August 2007 | 10:30 PMAll i want from internet explorer is for it 2 die. That wont happen but micro$oft are gonna have 2 bite the bullet one day. Or they will need IE8 to detect non-standards based code and auto-switch to the IE6 engine. It's not a proppa solution but dont be surprised if MS do something stupid like that.
I want a browser that never takes more then 20mb ram, Tabbed, Supports some type of standard propriety plugin (that is also not yet invented i dont believe).
I really hate standards nazi's, i was one myself till i learned i couldnt use so i gave it all up lol.
I hate IE. My site looks fine in other browsers, but always sucks in IE. Microsoft should be ashamed with having a browser that is getting killed by less financially resourced companies. Non-profits at that (some of them).
I understand that you may hate IE.
I'm using Opera (the best and safest browser currently).
But IE did a lot to move progress forward.
All current browser trying to everything using standards.
But IE created many features that become standards now. Flash, WYSIWYG objects, DHTML, channels and many other features were created by IE.
Sam
Monday 27th August 2007 | 01:05 AMI want Setup Internet Explorer 8 is ROCK than firefox. IF firefox setup on it then internet explorer some not work for Flash from adobe. I tried install flash on internet explorer still not work like a "again agian install" then i did remove firefox then still not work flash in internet explorer. I suggest you DONT download firefox ok.. FIREFOX THAT SUCK
thank
JD
Thursday 22nd November 2007 | 10:43 PMIE8 not that far away. Fingers crossed its as bad as ie7 and people get fed up.
Rodney
Friday 23rd November 2007 | 11:31 AMWhat I want from IE8: Something better than Vista underneath it?
Mark
Thursday 9th August 2007 | 03:50 PMMicrosoft saw IE7 as having an edge over Firefox because it looks after all those websites that were originally developed for an IE-only audience... their own website was included in this group!
Despite this advantage, people still saw the benefits of switching to Firefox et al. The effect of that is web developers have had to take the blinkers off and cater for everyone (i.e. adopt standards, or at least use less proprietary code!).
This would mean that by the time IE8 comes around many of the IE-only sites would have been redeveloped. No more need to be backwards compatible with those hillbilly sites! Maybe there is hope?