[thelist] IE and Standards Compliance (was: Re: news.com article on browsers and mainstream sites etc..)

James Aylard evolt at pixelwright.com
Tue Jul 9 11:29:01 CDT 2002


Tim,

> The problem, as I see it, is that there will never, ever be a version of
> Internet Explorer that does not include some proprietary functions.

    I'm going to avoid the anti-Microsoft topic -- that's old ground that I
don't care to cover. But despite the Microsoft hype about the need to
innovate, it is, in fact, true that many of these proprietary extensions are
a form of innovation. As such, IMO, they can add value and provide a
positive contribution to web development.
    Many pick off the easy targets of, say, the marquee element or scrollbar
styling as examples of proprietary features run amok. In part I would agree,
although I think the criticisms are sometimes overblown. But there are other
proprietary features of IE -- the showModalDialog() method, for example, and
expando properties, for another -- that are truly useful and reasonably
innovative.
    I support standards-compliance, and truly hope that Microsoft develops a
fully standards-compliant browser. I also hope that Microsoft would make IE
fully HTML 4.x/CSS 2-compliant before it innovates additional proprietary
features. But I do not believe that the W3C should be the fount of all
innovation, nor that its stamp of approval must emblazon a new technology
before the proprietary feature may be implemented. The resulting stagnation
would be of little benefit to anyone.

James Aylard




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