Initially this will be good news to the European Commission – it looks as if Microsoft are removing their browser to give people the choice of downloading and installing an alternative, such as Opera or Firefox.

But did they really think this through?  When the European Commission take delivery of their shiny new Windows 7 PCs, they will have no browser with which to download their favourite browser.  Of course there’s nothing to stop them from downloading it using another PC, but by complying with the EC’s wishes, Microsoft have cleverly introduced an annoyance that is bound to cause an uproar.

Anyone who upgrades their PC from a previous version of Windows will, of course, have their favourite browser already installed.  But new Windows 7 PCs will not have one.

And there’s another twist to this.  I just installed Windows XP SP2 on a new hard disk.  I fired up Opera to go and download SP3, and it wouldn’t let me.  It insisted that I use Internet Explorer to obtain the Service Pack.

I doubt whether that’s going to change with Windows 7.

Internet Explorer has never been known for its compliance with the World Wide Web standards laid out by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

While other browser manufacturers work hard to comply with the standards, Microsoft just does what it likes and pushes on like a steamroller.

Many websites are broken because they use Microsoft’s idea of how the web should be. They were created using Microsoft’s tools and only work properly in Microsoft’s browser.
Most of the authors of those websites are too short-sighted to see that there are several other browsers available, and that their popularity is increasing.
They don’t bother testing their sites in other browsers, or even use the excellent BrowserShots to see how their sites look in other browsers. (BrowserShots currently lists 53 different browsers and browser versions that can sites can be tested with)

So it was with some dismay that I read this on the Microsoft website about their new Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1:

“This beta is aimed at web developers and designers to help them take advantage of new features in Internet Explorer 8 that will enhance their websites.”

My initial reaction was that this can only mean that they have added a whole raft of non-standard features that will stop pages from displaying properly in other browsers. And by giving people the tools to create websites with these new features, they are putting more and more non-compliant sites out there. And of course, Microsoft would simply claim that all the other browsers are broken.

Anyway, I downloaded the browser and it claims that it is now compliant with CSS2 and with the forthcoming CSS3.

Other changes include better AJAX support, an improved Document Object Model (DOM), performance improvements and cured memory-leak problems.

So it looks as if Microsoft are finally beginning to comply with the standards. Ironically, a lot of existing IE-only websites may now be broken when viewed in IE. To overcome this, Microsoft have had to add an IE7 emulation mode which switches it back to the old way of working.

Perhaps Microsoft have finally realised that people are beginning to realise that there are alternatives out there.