Commafruit

This one slipped under my radar somehow: Microsoft have changed the default rendering behaviour of Internet Explorer 8. Previously, the plan was that IE8 would behave as IE7, unless the developer added a special <meta> tag. Now, the default is to use the (slightly more standards compliant) IE8 renderer by default, but give the developer the option to use IE7-style rendering (again, but means of a <meta> tag). PPK sums it up nicely:

Microsoft has decided to put the interests of web standards above the interests of the Intranets of its corporate clients.

I advise you to read the previous paragraph again. Even two years ago I had never expected to be able to write such a statement.

You may already have seen it, but it’s worth recommending: IEs4Linux is excellent resource, allowing you to run IE6 (and, if you choose, 5.5 and 5) on Linux. Worked perfectly for me first time, that’s running Ubuntu Feisty.

I know I’m hardly their target market, but Walmart’s attitude to Firefox and other, non-IE browsers is completely unacceptable.

Check out IE7.com – subtle!