by Kyle Weems 19.February 2008 09:02
Like the kid that just won't start poking the wasp's nest, A List Apart has decided to push the angry topic button of the web development community by posting not one, but TWO new articles this week about the already infamous decision by Microsoft to incorporate a version targeting meta tag in Internet Explorer 8.
I've already poked my toe into the swimming pool of controversy in my post Loud Noises!, where I tentatively agree with the whole idea. After all, Netscape did essentially the same thing when they introduced the DOCTYPE tag as a way to control standards mode, and nobody got together a group of vassal warriors, went to their hall and burned it while standing at the door with swords. But Microsoft, being the two ton gorilla it is with a standards compliance history that is spotty to say the least, apparently hasn't earned the right to try to follow suit and keep the Internet from breaking on their newest browser when it is released.
In his article They Shoot Browsers, Don't They?, Jeremy Keith essentially says "Hey, we shouldn't add a single meta tag just because one browser needs it." Well, I hate to break Mr. Keith's bubble of fantasy, but the fact is that for now, the vast majority of people on the Internet are using Internet Explorer. Heck, IE6, which is eons old and about as standards compliant as a clown on a unicycle (no, I don't know what that metaphor means either), has a larger market share than FireFox and Safari combined. Add in IE7, and their share is so large it hurts.
I'm not suggesting we abandon standards in the face of corporate mega-giants. I'm saying that we need our clients' sites to look good for all their customers. And although someday I'm sure Microsoft will fall from the top of the ladder, I don't think it'll be before IE8 is released. There are literally millions of web pages out there that won't have standards aware developers out there to fix the way they render in IE when version 8 comes out. This means, like the IE7 switch, there will be a lot of people who would have broken sites and immediately blame Microsoft.
It sucks to have to put in a single tag for just one browser's use. But Microsoft knows that cutting edge developers are paying attention, and will KNOW to do it. Therefore, the new pages will continue to look awesome and render in the newest browser version. Old sites written by a collection of soccer moms will continue to render as they always have in IE7, and we won't have a new crisis where the majority of web pages look wrong on the majority of computers.
In his article Version Targeting: Threat or Menace, Jeffrey Zeldman (one of the banner carriers of the whole web standards movement) says the following:
"Designers and developers should be popping corks, hugging each other,
and weeping with joy. IE no longer sucks. Cross-browser unobtrusive
scripting, with no extra work for IE (save the “work” of including a meta element or HTTP header), will soon be a reality. No version of IE will ever again surprise us with unexpected displays or behavior."
I think he nails it on the button. I've spent way too many of my hours fixing client pages for IE6 and IE7. I can't tell you how much I thoroughly hate that sort of work. It's not cutting edge, it's not web design, it's bandaging an old browser. I'm ecstatic that I don't need to do the same for sites that would otherwise break on IE8 without this whole new meta tag concept.
That means money saved for clients, money saved for my company, and hours of insanity saved for me.
So yes, I'll put all that horrible, extra, grueling effort of putting one meta element into my page. Woe unto me.