IE 7.0 Technical Changes Leave Web Developers, Users in the Lurch

windowsitpro.com ^ | 8/2/05 | Paul Thurrott

[rock_lobsta]

In a recent blog posting , Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) Lead Program Manager Chris Wilson revealed many of the technical improvements that Microsoft will add to IE 7.0 for its final release. Almost all the improvements are related to bugs in IE's implementation of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), an HTML-like technology that Web developers use to create Web sites. Many of these bugs aren't fixed in the currently available IE 7.0 Beta 1 release, Wilson noted. Wilson's post raises some serious questions about IE 7.0, not the least of which is this: If IE 7.0 Beta 1 doesn't include the fixes that most Web developers need, why did Microsoft release IE 7.0 Beta 1 only to a small group of Web developers and other testers, not to the general public as originally promised?

Wilson's post is disappointing because Microsoft doesn't plan to fully support the latest CSS standard in IE 7.0. Instead of using well-established Web standards, IE 7.0 will continue to foist proprietary technologies on Web developers, forcing them to choose between two competing ways of creating Web sites. "In IE 7.0, we will fix as many of the worst bugs that Web developers hit as we can, and we will add the critical most-requested features from the standards as well," Wilson said. "Our intent is to build a platform that fully complies with the appropriate Web standards, in particular CSS 2. I think we will make a lot of progress against that in IE 7.0 through our goal of removing the worst painful bugs that make our platform difficult to use for Web developers."

The most critical point in Wilson's post, in my mind, is Microsoft's admission that it will fail the crucial Acid2 browser-compliance test , which the Web Standards Project (WaSP) designed to help browser vendors ensure that their products properly support Web standards. Microsoft apparently disagrees. "Acid2 ... is pointedly not a compliance check," Wilson noted, contradicting the description on the Acid2 Web site. "As a wish list, [Acid2] is really important and useful to my team, but it isn't even intended, in my understanding, as our priority list for IE 7.0." Meanwhile, other browser teams have made significant efforts to comply with Acid2.

Microsoft blames backward-compatibility problems for the stalemate over true Web standards compatibility. Put succinctly, the company has gone its own way for so long and now has to support so many developers who use nonstandard Web technologies that it will be impossible to make IE Web-standards-compliant without breaking half the commercial Web sites on the planet. Furthermore, by halting all IE development for several years before reconstituting the IE team to create IE 7.0, Microsoft has set back Web development by an immeasurable amount of time.

My advice is simple: Boycott IE. It's a cancer on the Web that must be stopped. IE isn't secure and isn't standards-compliant, which makes it unworkable both for end users and Web content creators. Because of their user bases, however, Web developers are hamstrung into developing for IE at the expense of established standards that work well in all other browsers. You can turn the tide by demanding more from Microsoft and by using a better alternative Web browser. I recommend and use Mozilla Firefox, but Apple Safari (Macintosh only) and Opera 8 are both worth considering as well.

I'll update my IE 7.0 preview on the SuperSite for Windows today to reflect recent IE 7.0 developments. My IE 7.0 review will be available later this week.

[rock_lobsta]

'Boycott IE. It's a cancer on the Web that must be stopped.'

Coming from Thurrott, whom I generally consider to be a Microsoft shill, this is a big condemnation of IE7. He has gotten progressively more critical of MS since Vista's development problems.

[gondramB]

>>IE 7.0 Technical Changes Leave Web Developers, Users in the Lurch<<

Gosh, I hope it doesn't leave us Firefox users in the lurch...

[angkor]

I've been trying to avoid IE forever, with Netscape, Opera, Mozilla, Firefox, and even Maxthon (Maxthon was/is a "development partner" of MS).

But you have to keep it around, because there are a few sites that demand it, and a few apps that use IE DLL's and rendering (the excellent SharpReader RSS reader). So you're stuck.

95 percent of all sites seem to do well with Firefox and Opera.

[KoRn]

ping

[Turbopilot]

IE is one thing Microsoft has done a really bad job with lately, and it's only apparent because of how good a product Firefox is. Tabbed browsing in and of itself is one of those features that, once you've used it, you can't understand how you ever used a computer without it. And extensions that let you customize the browser to your tastes are brillant - to say nothing of the fact that Firefox opens and loads pages faster, and takes up less HD space. Opera has the best-looking interface, but is slightly slower and there aren't nearly as many extensions available.

For me to switch from IE, I had to see something not just different or as good, but better - and I did. I've completely switched to Firefox, and other than Windows Update itself I don't seem to run across any incompatible web sites. I now consider Firefox to be an essential part of a properly configured computer. To get me to switch back, IE must have everything Firefox does, and then be better still - right not it looks like IE7 is just going to try to be "as good" (or "almost as good") as Firefox, and that won't cut it for me or most other people.

[CedarDave]

My advice is simple: Boycott IE. It's a cancer on the Web that must be stopped. IE isn't secure and isn't standards-compliant, which makes it unworkable both for end users and Web content creators. Because of their user bases, however, Web developers are hamstrung into developing for IE at the expense of established standards that work well in all other browsers. You can turn the tide by demanding more from Microsoft and by using a better alternative Web browser. I recommend and use Mozilla Firefox, but Apple Safari (Macintosh only) and Opera 8 are both worth considering as well.

[SlowBoat407]

As long as IE is still the standard to which major institutions (banks, credit cards, etc) design their websites for interactivity, we're all stuck. I could not use Firefox or Safari to do online bill payments until just recently. Before then, I had to keep a copy of IE on my computer solely for that purpose.

[KoRn]

"My advice is simple: Boycott IE. It's a cancer on the Web that must be stopped. IE isn't secure and isn't standards-compliant, which makes it unworkable both for end users and Web content creators."

Microsoft all too often takes a 'our way or the highway' approach. For the most part, such a philosophy slows the growth of technological advancement because it tends to put people in a little box. The greatest advancements in IT happened when people worked together, allowing for cross platform operability.

A perfect example of this is a Cisco Router, or any other piece of networking hardware. If networking hardware were all like Microsoft OSs, you couldn't use a non-Cisco router or switch with a Cisco switch because they wouldn't communicate. Sure, with using Cisco and non-Cisco, you may miss out on some advanced features that Cisco may offer. It will all function well nonetheless, regardelss of the manufacturer.

[MikefromOhio]

well of COURSE it's going to be jacked up.

It's from Micro$$$$$$$$$$$$$$oft

[MikefromOhio]

You have to keep a copy of IE on a Windows Machine anyway. It's inseperable from the OS....

[CedarDave]

I was viewing one website over the weekend ( www.elpasotimes.com ) and got the following notice when trying to play a video using Firefox:

This product requires Microsoft© Internet Explorer 6, Microsoft© Media Player 10, and Macromedia Flash 6. To download these free software applications, click the links below and follow the on-screen instructions. Step 1: Download Microsoft© Internet Explorer 6 Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 is free to download Once the installations are complete, reload this page.

Of course all of these are loaded on my machine, but they apparently don't work with Firefox at this website and I had to fire up IE6. Any suggestions from those more knowledgeable than me? (I don't plan on reloading anything if I can avoid it; must be some tweaks I can do without reloading).

[SlowBoat407]

You have to keep a copy of IE on a Windows Machine anyway. It's inseperable from the OS....

I use a Mac, so I'm not bound to it by the OS. Plus, MS stopped developing IE for the Mac with version 5. I'm seeing better convergence among the browsers now, so I'm not worried, but there was a time when I saw some problems brewing due to IE being the "standard".

[djf]

I doubt it will. This entire scheme can be seen as another MS attempt to own the Internet. Yet the entire concept of the internet was intended to be a company free envronment that would evolve under it's own accord.

The marketplace will speak (and has spoken, in the case of Firefox, which I've been using since it was like Firebird .6 or thereabouts)

MS won't be allowed to "own" the net.

[HangThemHigh]

My bank's (Suntrust) bill pay website can be fooled into accepting Firefox (which works just fine) by using "User Agent Switcher". http://chrispederick.com/work/useragentswitcher
This little program simply hides the fact you are using Firefox by telling the offending website that you're using IE (or Netscape or Opera). It doesn't work everywhere, many sites actually require IE

[supercat]

Microsoft blames backward-compatibility problems for the stalemate over true Web standards compatibility.

Simple solution: if the header of a document says it uses a new version of the standards, process it according to the new standards. If not, process it the old way.

What's the problem?

[holymoly]

and Opera 8 are both worth considering as well

The most recent version of Opera is 9.01. It reportedly passes the Acid2 test.

[ShadowAce]

[stylin_geek]

Well, looks like I'll have to find out how to have Firefox lie when a site demands IE. I know it can be done, I've just never worried about it until now.

[antiRepublicrat]

I could not use Firefox or Safari to do online bill payments until just recently.

That's a requirement for me for doing any business online with anyone. I recently sent Sears a note that I wouldn't be shopping for expensive exercise equipment there because they're IE-only.

[garyhope]

I'm currently using IE 7 Beta test ver 3.

I like the tab feature, otherwise I don't know if I can tell the difference, but then I'm no software whiz. The history button seems to have disappeared.