Version Targeting and IE8
So IE8 is in the works now, I’ve heard of this little tidbit when I read Eric Meyer’s article in ALA which talked about his views about WaSP’s proposal to the IE developer team to keep IE8 from “breaking the web” just like what IE7 did to our sites when it was launched — which is dubbed as version targeting. While reading it, I thought that has to be the stupidest thing, why does IE have to mess our lives even more? They’re probably sadists who just love to see developers and designers pour countless of hours just to make sure that their sites look the way it’s supposed to (actually I just thought of the last line this very minute) — with that I closed the window and was smug enough to think that I’m the wiser. Until today.
The problem was that I thought what they’re proposing is wrong even before I read Aaron Gustafson’s Beyond DOCTYPE article which explains just what version targeting is, along with why and how the DOCTYPE switch is broken — the main reason why the IE team is now looking for other solutions to make sure that they not break the web with IE8. Hey, how about phasing out IE? lol Of course, I kid, life’s not fun without it. Seriously.
So anyway, they’re proposing that version targeting be the next kid on the block, let’s skip the jargons, it made my brains spew blood and there’s no way I’ll be able to use the same words and look like I really know it.
Advantages
Simply put, by using the following code
<meta HTTP-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=8;FF=3" />
within your <head> tag, it will be able to freeze the look of the site based on the rendering engine version of the browsers you specified. In this case, it’s FF 3 and IE8.
So what does this mean? If your site looks grand already in IE8, it will still retain its look even if IE9 is released to the public. Even if new features or CSS support are introduced in IE9, it will not show up in your site because your site is set to IE8. So say goodbye to downloading nightly versions of the browsers to be sure that your site is compatible with the newer version. It also means that you will support the new version of the browser when you want it or when you’re ready (if for example the number of your visitors using IE8 has dwindled down to just 5% or so).
If laid out like that, I have to say that I kinda like the idea behind it but because I’m the kind of person who worries over unnecessary things these are the disadvantages that I can think of.
Disadvantages
It’s been more or less a year now since IE7 has been released but the population who uses IE6 as their web browser is still at 32%. Sure, this slow adaptation can give us, site owners, ample time to test and make sure that the site looks 100% right but if and when you finally give support to the new browser, it’s impossible to give up the fixes you did for the past browser — I’ve given up all hope that my site(s) will look right without a separate stylesheet for IE.
It’s practically the same as downloading the nightly and keeping 2 versions of the same browser because you’ll still be making edits on the stylesheet and it’s impossible to assume that, say IE8 will be able to render the page just like IE9. This method is nice because you’ll be able to predict what your site will look like for future released browsers.
Next, if they’re planning to support the rendering engines of IE6 and IE7 does that mean that it’ll be a pain to download? If it isn’t, then what about the installation? How much space will it take? FF’s main problem is its memory usage, if IE were to use 2 rendering engines (well you can’t expect that all sites will run under IE7 right? There will always be early adopters) then won’t that be problematic too?
Oh well, maybe I’m thinking too much (as always), what are your thoughts on this matter? I think that it’s a nice idea but I’m still not that on the it since I really don’t see much of a use for version targeting. Also, if they would only render the sites like the other standards browsers (FF, Safari etc) then what would be the problem exactly, right? Sure, some sites would break but won’t that further promote web standards? Or maybe I still haven’t understood it enough?..
You’re talking in alien language again. Boo.
hehe let me be a geek sometimes! :P
oo nga! magkwento ka nga about lovelife mo hehehe . mizz u girlz :) nga pala, I officially hate IE haha!
I wish I have a lovelife to talk about hahaha
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