Microsoft releases standards compliant browser: IE8

In March, Microsoft released the latest version of Internet Explorer 8 (IE8). Internet Explorer has approximately 65% of the web browser market share and as a result, this new release has become a significant event in our industry. IE8 has many new features, but most importantly, Microsoft has released a standards compliant browser which is really exciting for web developers.

Standards are important because websites and applications run on many different platforms. Unlike desktop applications, web apps are expected to run on every operating system—plus, every web browser and every version of browser. This creates the challenge of successfully supporting dozens of combinations. Developers are expected to support at least 3 versions of Internet Explorer alone (IE6, IE7 and IE8), so when a browser renders HTML and CSS according to established standards, it makes our job a lot easier.

Here’s a quick tip to accommodate IE users who still experience outdated browser capability: by adding a simple meta tag to your (X)HTML you can force IE8 to render your website exactly as IE7 would. This provides an easy migration path to IE8.

At zu, we have been working hard to prepare for the release of IE8. We have executed an audit of all our existing websites to maintain a high standard of compatibility with IE8. Implementing compliancy standards for our websites has always been a priority for zu. We still maintain support for older versions of Internet Explorer and will continue to do so in the future.