Welcome Back, Paul

Last year, Paul Thurrott had a few things to say about IE:

My advice is simple: Boycott IE. It's a cancer on the Web that must be stopped. IE isn't secure and isn't standards-compliant, which makes it unworkable both for end users and Web content creators. Because of their user bases, however, Web developers are hamstrung into developing for IE at the expense of established standards that work well in all other browsers. You can turn the tide by demanding more from Microsoft and by using a better alternative Web browser. I recommend and use Mozilla Firefox, but Apple Safari (Macintosh only) and Opera 8 are both worth considering as well.

Ouch.

Well, I can tell you that a lot of us took that one to heart.

In a recent review of Windows Vista's Internet features, Paul admits that he's back to the fold (emphasis mine):

I know, I know. But the truth is, IE 7 basically duplicates all of the functional advantages once enjoyed by Firefox, and it's obviously a lot safer than was IE 6, especially on Windows Vista. (I don't like the look and feel of IE 7 on XP, either, for whatever that's worth, but it looks fine in Vista.) And let's face, Firefox 2.0 is a huge disappointment, with an ugly default user interface, a confusing Options dialog, and no major enhancements over the 1.5.x versions. IE 7, somehow, has found its way into my daily routine. No one is more surprised by this than me.

Okay, we still have a ton of work to do with IE (and we're doing it!), so it's a little early to declare victory, but to paraphrase AA, "one user at a time."

Thanks Paul.

Sean