ie8 beta - site readiness
Thanks to Lyndon Higgins for the following:
Microsoft will be releasing Internet Explorer 8 to display content in its most standards compliant way by default. Enabling Internet Explorer 8 to display web content in its most standards-compliant way by default is the right way to help move the Web forward.
Rationale:
- Helps web developers and designers drive toward the ideal of “write once, run anywhere”, freeing up more time to innovate vs. modify content for different browsers
- Addresses several major development and design pain points from previous Internet Explorer releases
- Partnering closely with Web standards working groups to be a key contributor in Web standards evolution
However, browsing with this default setting may cause content written for previous versions of Internet Explorer to display differently than intended. This creates a call to action for site owners to ensure their content will continue to display seamlessly in Internet Explorer 8. In order to maintain backwards compatibility with Internet Explorer 7, we have provided a compatibility meta-tag usable on a per-page or per-site level. Adding this tag instructs Internet Explorer 8 to display content like it did in Internet Explorer 7, without requiring any additional changes.
We are encouraging site administrators to get their sites ready now for broad adoption of Internet Explorer 8, as there will be a beta release in the third quarter of this calendar year targeted for all consumers.