I do web standards based design as much as possible (Doctype Strict XHTML 1) – use Full CSS 2.1 Style sheets and totally separate the formatting from the structure.

The funny thing (not so funny actually) is I was just finishing testing a page and css file – tested in about 40 different concoctions of different browsers, Platforms and Versions – Now:

The good news is that almost all browsers/platforms/versions/mixtures rendered Standards compliant to the pixel.

And this included IE 5, 5.5, 6 and 7.

So I decided to also test it in IE 8 (Beta) – WOOOOAH -
ALL BLANK – BLANK PAGES – SEE NADA and NOTHING.

Then today I was reading for the first time about this META BULL SHIT – and …

VOILA it worked to the Pixel uxing:

even in IE5, 6, 7

still have to see what this brings:

I also deleted the doctype and uploaded and tested in IE8 – and that worked too – but I am not a fan of this practice.

But my point is this:
I am self-employed working from home doing websites and am isolated and when I work I don’t have much time to surf for info all the time.

So finding by chance the IE8 Meta Switcher Thing was pure luck — and I would like to say that the majority of MS developers are careless rascals because most of them just don’t use doctypes on purpose.

Pages start with html and end with it.
Just built for IE lots of times – and even then with a zillion errors in it and only half working.

I call it lazy – and most of these pages when they validate validate with 100s of errors or not at all.

Plus MS is still a GARAGE-COMPANY – producing crappy machines with crappy software.

The rendering is crap too – plain and ugly (when viewing in IE, as compared to Safari for example which renders nice)

So hopefully sometime in the future Internet Explorer will lose all its popularity and we all can bury it and move forward to better things without Microsoft.

Here is the webpage I tested (it has the META BUG FIX IN IT – http://www.yss-australia.com/HYPERPRO/hyperpro-shocks3Col.html

By Roger Ledergerber

If a page doesn’t include that element, IE8 will render it exactly as wrongly as IE7.

As for IE8’s meta switch, it’s early days but I don’t see this as a scheme that other browser developers have to adopt. Therefore there’s no burden on non-MS vendors to support old engine revisions like you suggest.

MS is providing us with the ability to do cross-browser standards compliance and all we need to do is add one extra tag.

Those with old browsers will see dodgy sites, simple as that. The issue is more about Microsoft’s distribution model. If they stagger (legit users, illegit users later) the distribution of IE8 as they’ve done with IE7, there will be trouble. If they pump down IE8 immediately upon release, that’s different. That’s the key IMHO. Get IE8 out there and we have a standards compliant browser market and we no reason to write a second version of sites for old browsers.