I had great expectations when Internet Explorer 8 came out earlier this year, that it would be the start of Microsoft to, more then ever, adhere to W3C works with (x)HTML/HTML, CSS and SVG. How disappointed I was when I saw the preliminary findings after the release.
We designers / developers can’t use a lot of things - just because of the MAIN browser on the web. Something is really wrong in this picture, and we can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. Why you ask? Well, lets face it, major Fortune 500 corporations are still using Internet Explorer 6, which by the way, had it’s last update in November of 2004!! According to the two major Browser Statistics website, w3schools.com and upsdell.com there is STILL between 10-25% of users in an outdated version of Internet Explorer, which is a very bad sign. With the release of Windows 7 I had hopes for Internet Explorer 9 to be shipped with it, I was thinking that Vista was such a sad version that they seriously wanted EVERYTHING to be better in the new world…. Not so much - but rumor has it that Microsoft are going to reveal today, it’s plans for Internet Explorer 9. We did get Internet Explorer 8 in March of this year, so, I guess Softpedia has a point that it is a tad early for Redmond to release another one.
Still, there was almost 5 whole years between Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7, to save their face Microsoft HAS to be quicker in their delivery of Internet Explorer, which they indeed did with Internet Explorer 8. Seriously though, I feel like they sent out a not-so-great browser in Internet Explorer 8, just because they felt they had to. A lot, and I mean A LOT, of support for standards are missing, and I believe that Microsoft has finally acknowledged that if they decide to run their own race, they will loose out on market share. For Internet Explorer 9 I have high hopes that it will be released in early 2010, and that it will have a larger portion of common support for standards.
This is what I want Microsoft:
- SVG support! (image & fonts)
- CSS3 (especially support for colors & selectors)
- Support for canvas
- HTML5 Element support
To read more about what we are missing out on, check this excellent page out: http://a.deveria.com/caniuse/
If they do start to support web standards to a higher degree, I may consider starting to use it again :p
Nov 17 2009
Is page speed going to be a criteria for Google’s algorithm? Looks like it - Google has released a few new tools, among them the Page Speed Calculator:
http://code.google.com/speed/page-speed/
This browser add-on is only available for Firefox 3.5 and higher, and with the help of Firebug, 1.4.2 and higher, plus that you have a recent version of the Java Plug-in from Sun
For now, it gives you tips and hints on how to make your pages faster and smoother for the user, I can see the death of overwhelming Flash, where the glitz and glamour can’t be justified with the lowering of the Page Rank in Google.
Will we see a more efficient web? Yes I think so.
Will we get a more structured web? Yes I think so.
Will we be less frustrated by Flash Applications we do not choose? YES!
| Posted by Veine under Design, General, Tools
Yesterday Steven Sinofsky spoke about the upcoming Internet Explorer 9 at Microsoft PDC (Professional Developers Conference). Since Internet Explorer 8 was released in March of this year, we are not to expect it as soon as we would like to see it, but internal builds are already present, so maybe the later half of 2010.