Posted on 03/22/2009 9:32:50 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 has now been available, downloaded, installed and tested around the world and, so far, the reviews have been OK if not mixed. But a mini-storm could be brewing on the horizon. When IE 8 dropped on Thursday, many in the development community rushed to download it, install it and try it out on the Acid 3 Test, developed by The Web Standards Project. All over the world, the score was turning up the same for almost everyone. Out of a possible score of 100, IE 8 rang up 20. It failed the test and failed it badly.
What's the early reaction to IE8's performance on Acid3? Well, on Twitter, there's this:
Ugh! Activating that ActiveX control did nothing. IE8 is still 20/100 on Acid3. What a waste.
Or this:
Acid3 test FAIL in Internet Explorer 8. Actually crashed the browser.
Or this:
I did the acid3 test on my wife's phone with 2.2 and got 74/100.
Or this:
So IE8 scores 20/100 on the Acid3 test. The next 8 years should be fun trying to work around the usual IE incompatibilities... :/
Is this all just a bunch of developer psychodrama?
Consider this: Developers cast a vote every day for the technology that will ultimately win out in the marketplace - - the technology that can more than most help them to be successful. Standards help them to be successful. And while IE 8 is scoring 20 out of 100 on the Acid 3 standards test, a company down the coast, in Cupertino, Calif., did just a tad better. Apple's Safari 4 browser scores 100 on Acid 3. They also have a little product called the iPhone that uses Safari, that's enjoying some success.
In and of itself, standards compliance for free software like a browser won't determine the king of the marketplace. But Microsoft is losing market share on the desktop, and its desktop business actually shrunk during its most recent quarter. Right now it could use all the friends it can get. And in a community critical to the technology industry, its longtime rival Apple now has a big advantage.
No I am using the 32 bit version of Win7.
Build 7057 (close to RC) included the release version of IE8, this is what I’m using.
Yes, the definition you quoted is correct.
Please show me, in your comments, where you took and defended Apple's position (one you disagree with) for the sake of argument to test it.
Maybe I missed it, if so, sorry about that.
Huh. Okay, I guess MS's IE8 download page is out of date. Thanks for the correction.
I agree that Opera runs well, but it is still somewhat of an unsung hero in the browser wars, and up until I started using Firefox recently, Opera was my main browser for a few years. I’ve been a proud user of Opera since 8.53 or so. Love the portable version OperaUSB and the portable version of Firefox 3 works well also. I like the “paste and go” feature in Opera which is very convenient. Wish I could get that feature in IE or FF.
Perhaps Blue means that he is really an Apple advocate that is arguing the Windows position?
When I say devil’s advocate, I mean I am the typical Apple fanatics devil’s advocate. That doesn’t mean I take their position and defend it, it means I test their argument by opposing their ideas. Are you mistakenly misunderstanding the definition of a devil’s advocate?
I think you’re right I misused the devil’s advocate reference. I have been interpreting it to take on the argument of anothers ideas to test them, not my own. My mistake. What is the word for what I am describing then, and do not say troll, lol.
Nope, I submit you are. Unless you're claiming now that you are a stealth Apple fanboy, trashing them only because you're playing devil's advocate. ;-)
As in the definition you quoted, being "the devil's advocate" means "advocating the opposing position". For instance:
Suppose you are arguing in favor of "A" and I'm arguing in favor of "B". You might then say, "Let me play devil's advocate, and take the 'B' position", so that you can point out an inconsistency or weak part of my argument.
Alternatively, let's say you and I agree on "A". No one is around to champion "B". So you might say, "I'll play devil's advocate and argue in favor of 'B'", so that we can find its weak points better.
So since you have been arguing AGAINST Apple very consistently in this thread, I must conclude that your real position is anti-Apple, and that if you played "devil's advocate" you would be defending Apple's position. Okay, that's fine. So I ask again:
Please show me, in your comments, where you took and defended Apple's position (one you disagree with) for the sake of argument to test it.
Oops, comments crossed.... more in a second...
Designated Windows pitcher?
Self-designated adversary?
No, I won't say "troll", at least not now. I would just say that you are arguing an anti-Apple position, which is entirely your right.
BTW, my early "troll" comment was because your comment in #9 was clearly baiting Swordmaker. "Trolling" is different from arguing, in that it seeks primarily to piss off others, rather than engage in conversation. We've been having a fine conversation since then...
If either of you are interested, these are the torrents for 32bit build 7057 and 64bit build 7057.
> Designated Windows pitcher?
Heh, but no, he's not coming off as particularly pro-Windows, overall.
> Self-designated adversary?
That, yes. Nothing wrong with that, as far as I know. We all have a right to take a position. His appears to be anti-Apple.
Hell, I admit to being "anti-" a few things myself. ;-)
I like the ‘paste and go’ too. And, being the tweaker and customizer that I am, I like the cool looking themes Opera has as well.
Thanks, I will try it and test it. Hopefully it will install over the bundled version of IE8 in Win7 as I haven’t found out if there is a way to uninstall the bundled version of IE8, even though Microsoft was supposed to be required to release an OS without the IE being so integral that it cannot be uninstalled (wasn’t that supposed to be Win7 with IE8???).
Same here... and self-designated as well.
Here is a nice Side by side: UI changes from Windows 7 beta to build 7057.
This will also give you an idea of what to expect.
:^)
Also, there’s a new feature that let’s you de-select services - including IE8 (though some are broken and don’t actually remove them (and doesn’t remove all the files, just the .exe), and I beleive IE8 is one of those).
Correct, AFAIK. I think all you can do is keep it from running as the default browser. The rendering and other services are still required within Win7, just as in other versions of Windows. IE is still there, and it's still integrated into the OS (dumb!), but it's not in your face.
MS didn't remove the browser, really. All this talk is just kissing up to the EU requirements, that's all. There's no substance to it.
It would take a complete rewrite of Windows, to make it possible to REALLY totally remove IE from it.
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