Fix It Friday: Internet Explorer
Posted on Friday, November 27th, 2009 at 6:00.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana
Pete LePage used this quotation to introduce his session HTML 5 Features in Internet Explorer 8 at Web 2.0 Expo in NYC last week. He explained that this quotation was the guiding wisdom for the Internet Explorer team. I was surprised and delighted to hear someone from Microsoft admit Internet Explorer’s past shortcomings were motivating the creation of a better product.
But then he continued: When Microsoft released Internet Explorer 7, some web developers were upset that their websites no longer worked as they did in Internet Explorer 6. This outrage has haunted Microsoft so much that backwards compatibility is the biggest past mistake Microsoft wants to avoid repeating.
I was shocked.
Websites that behaved as the web developer expected in Internet Explorer 6 “broke” in Internet Explorer 7 because Microsoft corrected its implementation of web standards. The websites were always broken. Internet Explorer 7 just revealed them as such. However, had Internet Explorer 6 better implemented web standards, web developers would not have improperly coded websites.
The solution to this chicken and egg problem is for both web developers and browser vendors to adhere to web standards as best as they can at all times. Everyone must strive for more perfect code. Backwards compatibility cannot be guaranteed if there is a dependency upon a bug. Microsoft must stop using compatibility as an excuse for slow correction and continued support of proprietary implementations of web standards.
What Needs Fixing
1. Release more frequently.
Mr LePage pointed out that the HTML 5 specification is over 900 pages when printed and that no browser vendor would implement it perfectly all at once. He is correct. This is why Apple, Opera, and Mozilla release updates frequently. Microsoft aspires to have a 24 month release cycle for Internet Explorer, justified with the assertion that business customers don’t want more frequent releases.
Two years to improve web standards support between releases is a long time. Given how far Internet Explorer has to go to support current standards, and even more so on emerging standards, this pace is not fast enough. The web’s dynamic nature has created incredible value. Businesses have benefitted greatly from continual improvements in web technologies. Microsoft is slowing the innovation that occur on the most important platform ever created.
2. Create official standalone versions of Internet Explorer.
Enterprises that already have invested significant resources into web applications dependent upon Internet Explorer’s broken behavior deserve some form of compatibility. This compatibility should not come in the form of continued support for broken behaviors in future releases of Internet Explorer, but from frozen stand alone versions of Internet Explorer.
Compatibility with a flawed past is an act of condemned repetition. Fix the bugs and let those who need the bugs use an old version.
3. Open source Internet Explorer.
I’ve already said that I believe Internet Explorer is the most important application in the world. Web developers, enterprises, and end users would benefit from an improved Internet Explorer. Safari and Firefox have proven that talented programmers are willing to contribute to a worthwhile project. I’m certain developers would enthusiastically join Microsoft in improving the most widely used web browser in the world.
