Topic: Microsoft changes IE8 default standards mode

Head on over to IEBlog: Microsoft's Interoperability Principles and IE8 and read the change. Basically, the default Standards Mode will be IE8 mode, with IE7 mode as an opt-in.

It'll break more sites, but it will give better standards compliancy and interoperability with other browsers than the previously suggested behaviour.

--
var Liorean = {
abode: "http://liorean.web-graphics.com/",
profile: "http://codingforums.com/member.php?u=5798"};

(Edited by liorean on 03-04-2008 05:20)

Mmm, would've been so much worse how they had it planned previously.

Bonus: Zeldman, WaSP, & Meyer all look like even greater idiots than in the past.

Yeah!!! Best web-related news so far.

Great news.

(Edited by Arthurio on 03-04-2008 12:13)

I have serious doubts about this being any good.

Hugh: I'd rather see web developers move their sites away from hacks than IE8 locking them into IE7 mode.

Were IE8 defaulting to IE7 mode, all sites subsequent of IE7 made using valid HTML 4.01- or XHTML 1.1- would be crippled by IE7 flaws. Holding people back, let alone into a proprietary web, is against the tenants of the web.

http://blogoscoped.com/files/google-maps-in-ie8-large.png
Admittedly Google can't code for shit, but it's still funny.

(Edited by reisio on 03-06-2008 22:20)

These last comments ( including this one ) belong more into Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1, but I just saw the same bug on all my stuff using CSS sprites or canvas sprites. That's encouraging ... not.

Microsoft Interop

Some of you may remember what I said a few weeks ago about power.org It's funny, because
this is another one of those predictable things that I saw coming.. ten years ago?
Can you see MS "feeling" a global trend towards normalisation and standards, and acting accordingly?

Microsoft NEED interoperability nowadays - they got it wrong. They ALWAYS get it wrong.
But they need to try.

I can see them feeling the loss of 1.3 billion USD to the EU.

Okay, to return to topic, here's what IE8b1 does:

X-UA-Compatible overrides DOCTYPE (but does HTTP header or meta element take precedence? I have no idea!):

• IE<7 --> Quirks mode (identical to IE7 Quirks it seems)
• IE=7 --> IE7 Standards mode
• IE>=8 --> IE8 Standards mode
• IE=edge --> Best possible (i.e. IE8 Standards mode)

If not X-UA-Compatible is present, it goes down the DOCTYPE sniffing route, with:

• unknown DOCTYPES that triggered Standards mode in IE7 will trigger IE8 Standards mode in IE8.
• known DOCTYPES that triggered Standards mode in IE7 will trigger IE7 Standards mode in IE8.
• known DOCTYPES, or lack of DOCTYPE, that triggered Quirks mode in IE7 will trigger Quirks mode in IE8.

--
var Liorean = {
abode: "http://liorean.web-graphics.com/",
profile: "http://codingforums.com/member.php?u=5798"};

(Edited by liorean on 03-08-2008 02:27)