With the new release of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7, I only have one question: when is Microsoft going to make a web developer’s life easier? For the past few years we have been demanding web compliance, and we are even more organized now under the banner of the World Wide Web Consortium, but IE still does not support CSS 2.1 and has spotty glitches with XHTML when its competitors already perform these tasks with ease. That only means that IE will continue to be that one browser that we cannot quite get our web page to look right in. After IE 7 failed the Acid 2 test, a web compliance test created by The Web Standards Project, lead programmer Chris Wilson stated that it was more of a “wish list” than a “compliance test.” The Web Standards Project has given kudos to Microsoft for acknowledging failing the test, but I say it just shows they are even more incompetent when it comes to web compliance.

For the past couple of years as IE 7 was in development, fearful web developers were worried that because of Microsoft’s worldwide control, IE would decide what we can and cannot use when it comes to web technology. Everybody started pushing Firefox to steal from Microsoft’s power. Though, with this release it seems Microsoft’s thunder is dying. The tone of that predicted technology takeover seems like it was wasted worrying. With IE 7 only having 3 million downloads in the past few weeks, it still did not beat Mozilla’s record of 2 million downloads in the first 24 hours of the its release of Firefox 2.0. It’s still too early to see who will win the browser war, but with its lack of web compliance, still existing security issues, and finally incorporating features that only mimic what other browsers can do, its pretty much safe to say Microsoft will always be on the losing side.

Justin Leavitt, Art Director

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