Internet Explorer 8 Could Break Applications, Gartner Warns

Microsoft's support for Web standards in IE 8 could cause big headaches for enterprise IT developers. That's the opinion of analysts at tech research firm Gartner which cautions in a new report that IE 8's default standards mode "will result in pages that don't display correctly for some enterprise applications."

That's because many Web- or intranet-facing applications used in business were built to work with previous versions of Explorer, in which Microsoft often favored its own protocols over universal Web standards. With Explorer 8, slated for full release later this year, Microsoft has promised default compatibility with W3C guidelines.

Gartner is recommending that enterprise developers fall in line with Microsoft's commitment to standards when creating new Web applications. "Strive to design for standards, not browsers," Gartner said. "Don't depend on any one client-side technology. Focus instead on validated user interaction patterns." In addition, "Test your designs not just with IE versions, but also with recent versions of Firefox, Opera and Safari." Download this report from Gartner (PDF) dated 12-Mar-2008.

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 Available for Testing

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 is a developer preview for Web designers and developers to help prepare their Web sites for the launch of Internet Explorer 8. Some of the new features designed for developers include a developer toolbar and improved interoperability and compatibility. Internet Explorer 8 is designed to work in standards mode out of this box. Learn more.

IE 8 to default to Web Standards

Just announced by Microsoft on 04-Mar-2008. They have given in to industry pressure and will release IE 8 with default set to read pages according to Web standards. The beta of IE8 should be released in the first half of 2008. Links to articles are below -

• Microsoft Says IE 8's Default Settings Will Comply With Web Standards InformationWeek
• Microsoft: IE8 to support standards from the start CNET News.com
• Internet Explorer 8 will follow web standards by default. Yeah... Mobile Digest
• Ray Ozzie Says IE8 Will Support Web Standards By Default eFluxMedia
• TechWhack (press release) - WebProNews

Version Targeting - Making Sites Work With IE8

Great article/commentary on the future release of Internet Explorer 8 and the problems or opportunities that is will present. Read more... . Also see a previous post for more details.

Internet Explorer 8 Standards Mode Is Opt-in

The IE Platform Architect reports on the IEBlog that for a site to render in standards-compliant mode in IE8 it will need to include a specific meta tag:

1. “Quirks mode” remains the same, and [will stay] compatible with current content.
2. “Standards mode” remains the same as IE7, and [will stay] compatible with current content.

For a page developer to use the best standards support IE8 can give, you can get it by inserting a simple meta element. The meta tag, also documented by A List Apart looks like this:

<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=8" />

While in order to retain backwards compatibility with the sites of yesterday (and of five years ago), opting in to render a page in standards-mode in IE8 seems the only sensible option. Hardcoding a reference to a specific browser seems wrong but may be necessary until full standard compliance is met by most sites.