IE 8 Passes Acid2 Test

notamicrosoftlover writes to tell us Channel9 is reporting that Internet Explorer 8 has correctly rendered the Acid2 page in "standards mode". "With respect to standards and interoperability, our goal in developing Internet Explorer 8 is to support the right set of standards with excellent implementations and do so without breaking the existing web. This second goal refers to the lessons we learned during IE 7. IE7's CSS improvements made IE more compliant with some standards and less compatible with some sites on the web as they were coded. Many sites and developers have done special work to work well with IE6, mostly as a result of the evolution of the web and standards since 2001 and the level of support in the various versions of IE that pre-date many standards. We have a responsibility to respect the work that sites have already done to work with IE. We must deliver improved standards support and backwards compatibility so that IE8 (1) continues to work with the billions of pages on the web today that already work in IE6 and IE7 and (2) makes the development of the next billion pages, in an interoperable way, much easier. We'll blog more, and learn more, about this during the IE8 beta cycle." There's also a video interview regarding IE8 development on Channel9."

Comments

So let's geek this out

[smittyoneeach]

If it takes until version 8 to support Acid 2, or 2^3,
then, when Acid 3 comes out, we can expect conformance by IE27?

Re:So let's geek this out

[EvilMonkeySlayer]

I find it something of a curious coincidence that as soon as Opera starts asking the EU to take legal action against MS and the little web developer revolt a while ago about the distinct lack of any information coming from the IE team regarding 8 that all of a sudden we have this "we'll be passing the acid2 test".

I can't help be slightly suspicious. I'll believe it when I see it.

Re:So let's geek this out

[davester666]

Hopefully, it's more than just:

if (url == acid2 test page)
    display jpg of correct acid2 rendering
else ...

Re:So let's geek this out

[mabinogi]

When it's a joke.
As much as I was bemused by considering a UID > 100,000 as low, I still understood that the post wasn't serious.

Would anyone mind if....

[iknownuttin]

...so that IE8 (1) continues to work with the billions of pages on the web today that already work in IE6 and IE7

Would anyone mind if they had rewrite their web pages or at the very least, remove the code that checks for the version of IE and if it is IE in the first place? I wouldn't mind.

Good News/Bad News

[machineghost]

Good News:
Web developers will finally be able to develop a page once, according to standards, and have it work on all major browser ...

Bad News:
... in the year 2012 (give or take a few years), when the percentage of web users using IE 5, 6 or 7 finally dips below 5%.

What, No Comments?

[sexconker]

What have we seen recently?

The people behind the Phantom actually releasing a product
A Duke Nukem Forever teaser
Dell promoting Linux
IE8 passing Acid2

What's next?
Dogs living with cats??

Re:"standards mode"?

[ScytheBlade1]

Standards mode is invoked when you specify a strict doctype in the page.

This IS out of the box support. Let's have less false assumptions and cheap shots at Microsoft, okay?

So they've realized how untrusted they are...

[MozeeToby]

Am I the only one who thinks it's hilarious how thorough the author is in proving that this is really true. There's a screenshot of the test, video, and even a screenshot of the checkin.

It's almost like think we don't trust them or something.

Re:Cool.

[pushing-robot]

Between IE passing a strict CSS test and 3DRealms planning to release Duke Nukem Forever, I'm wondering what alternate universe I woke up in this morning.

I guess I'd better check Google's top execs for goatees again.

Oh crap.

Remember kids...

[sootman]

... passing the Acid test doesn't mean the browser's perfect. From http://www.webstandards.org/action/acid2/guide/

Everything that Acid2 tests is specified in a Web standard, but not all Web standards are tested. Acid2 does not guarantee conformance with any specification.

And, from what I've read before, it tests how browsers handle incorrect code as much as anything else--i.e., if it deals with errors correctly. I'd rather have it handle every bit of the spec correctly in the first place, and if it fails gracefully, that's nice too.

It'll also be nice it it handles transparent PNGs properly with nothing more than an <img> tag--like how IE/5 Mac did almost eight fucking years ago. Here's how much progress they had made as of 6/2006. (Yeah, it's been a while, and maybe they've fixed that, but c'mon.... it was 2006!) Too bad they lined up the Mac guys against a wall and shot them, ensuring that it would take almost a decade to get that one feature into IE/Win.

Feel free to correct me if I've made any factual errors in this post.* Flame if you want, but nicely worded, verifiable responses are preferred and worth a lot more to readers in general.

* aside from the part about shooting the Mac team--I'm (pretty) sure that didn't happen.

Since you had to...

[Anonymous Coward]

...google for how to take a screenshot on linux... I do not think I trust your findings... Ad hominem FTW!!!.. ;P ... j/k

Re:Wonder how long

[Kelson]

IE requires the user to turn on a special "standards mode" to correctly render STANDARD WEBSITES.

The concept of "standards mode" and "quirks mode" has been around for several years, and is implemented in IE6, IE7, Firefox, and Opera, and for all I know in Gecko as well. The user does not have to flip a switch. The developer has to put some code at the beginning to show that he knows what he's doing, usually in the form of an appropriate DOCTYPE.

Re:Dec 19?

[BlueVelvet]

Crazier things are happening *now*. I have a date tonight. With a girl! :3