OSNews

"I shall believe it when I see it,
and not before."

Didn't MS at one point try and promote font standards for web? Didn't that fail too?

As a professional web developer, I'm all about standards - it'll make my life a whole lot easier.. However, MS has a lot of work to do to get IE to support standarizations such as CSS.

Just as long as they don't make things worse..

I must be dreaming... if microsoft keeps to the SPIRIT of these standards, this might be very good news!

Although it's true I would rather see them improve standards in their browser!

HALLELUJAH!

I think Microsoft doesn't have to improve on web standards to retain their market shares, they just have to ad tabs.

But Gosh, that would save us so much time it IE behaved just like Opera, Konqueror or Mozilla... No double CSS coding and IE hacks.

Sounds like that old embrace and kill strategy

...they own the patents I'm sure Microsoft will be VERY happy to help standardization.

Shouldn't Microsoft try to meet CURRENT standards before promoting extensions?

Didn't MS at one point try and promote font standards for web? Didn't that fail too?

Not quite. They dropped the core fonts program before it ever had a real chance to take off. They realized that most formal standards are bad for Microsoft, because its monopoly position makes anything they throw into Windows automatically a de facto standard. Why help your competitors when you can set your own "standards" and let everybody else perpetually play catch-up?

Sure, it's illegal to use your monopoly that way. But obviously Microsoft doesn't worry about trifles like that. They spread enough money around that the law is only a minor concern.

Microsoft teaming with a standards group is nothing new. We've seen it with W3C, IETF, ECMA, and others. Sometimes they get involved just to slow down the process or provide cover for their eventual counter-strategy. Othertimes they follow their tried-and-true embrace-and-extend strategy. But an announcement like this isn't news. Releasing a version of IE that actually follows these standards and doesn't take active steps to subvert them... that'll be news. Call me when that happens.

smother them

Pigs were seen flying across the skies of Washington State today!

They failed to mention IE in the document. Had they, I'd be a little more apt to celebrate.

I think they bring this guys in, tell them, these are our standards and now u implement them, good boys , $$. Kincking.

Perhaps you're all missing something, perhaps I am, but doesn't this hint of web-based applications?

Given the horrible track record of Microsoft in terms of compliance with the W3C standards this can only be a joke. I believe it when I see it. So far this announcement is not any more credible than all the empty promises and the hyping of Longhorn.