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Windows Internet Explorer 8 Compatibility View List

Mar. 19, 2009 Paul Thurrott | Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows

Or, to use a more controversial headline which I'm sure you'll see elsewhere:

Internet Explorer 8 natively incompatible with over 3,000 web sites

Microsoft has provided a list of web sites (in super-convenient Excel format) that haven't taken as little as 10 minutes of time to make sure they work properly with IE 8, shipping today:

This download consists of a list of sites that are most likely to be displayed better in Compatibility View in Windows Internet Explorer 8.

Windows Internet Explorer 8 is Microsoft’s latest web browser. Unlike previous versions, Internet Explorer 8 renders content in the most standards-compliant way possible. This means that web pages will be displayed in Internet Explorer 8’s standards mode by default. Through product feedback channels, our users have indicated that, during the beta period, some websites may not have been compatible with Internet Explorer 8 in its default, standards-based mode. As a result, these domains have been added to a list of sites that, for the short-term, are most likely to be displayed better in Compatibility View. All Internet Explorer 8 users are given the choice to use this list, and the subset that chooses to do so will see each listed domain automatically displayed in Compatibility View, without additional user interaction or notice. The sites on this list have high traffic volume (in their regions), and having a compatible website ensures a significant number of Internet Explorer 8 users will have a great experience. This list will be periodically updated and automatically downloaded to Internet Explorer 8 users who have opted-in to use Compatibility View updates from Microsoft. For more information on Compatibility View list updates, please see - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960321.

This is a public prod, of sorts, for those sites to get off their duffs and get to work.

Or it would be. You know, if microsoft.com, msn.com and live.com (among other Microsoft properties) weren't on the list too.

*Sigh*

Discuss this Article 11

nutts
on Mar 19, 2009
Great irony that. :) "Internet Explorer 8 renders content in the most standards-compliant way possible." So you mean it passes ACID3? Or even ACID2 under all situations? *pin drop*
WebGuy3000
on Mar 19, 2009
Wow, that's quite a list. Here are a few of the sites on that list: microsoft.com windows.com windowsmarketplace.com trymicrosoftoffice.com dell.com hp.com acer.com ibm.com google.com
anonymous
on Mar 19, 2009
Yes, but can Waethorn still get to CreamyHotMen dot com?
sdornan
on Mar 19, 2009
I think it's backwards to say that the site maintainers should be the ones who are lazy and "should get to work". Why can't Microsoft just make a browser that's compliant with the standards and works with websites that already exist? Most sites don't have to be rewritten for every new release of Webkit or Gecko, why should Trident be any different?
smiddlehurst
on Mar 19, 2009
Oh come on Paul, you're a professional in the IT industry, surely you know it's hardly a case of sites "that haven't taken as little as 10 minutes of time to make sure they work properly with IE 8". Leaving aside the fact that it should be Microsoft making sure their software plays nice with sites that have been built with previous versions of that software (and therefore aren't compatible with web standards) you must know that in the corporate world it's often not exactly a simple process to update a site. One company I'm currently working with need ANY change (including a simple correction of a typo) to be made on an internal environment, tested, approved, reviewed, transfered to the live environment but kept off the public site, tested approved and reviewed AGAIN before going live. It's a massive pain in the backside but they're terrified of a problem on the site damaging the brand. A fairly extreme example but not a unique one either.
Waethorn
on Mar 19, 2009
"Oh come on Paul, you're a professional in the IT industry" He's a journalist.
robertsjoe
on Mar 19, 2009
@waethorn: ""Oh come on Paul, you're a professional in the IT industry" He's a journalist." I am a journalist too. It's easy. You just write what you want, make up stuff and you're good to go.
Waethorn
on Mar 19, 2009
"I am a journalist too. It's easy. You just write what you want, make up stuff and you're good to go." Get back to class, rj. You got about 14 more years before you can actually study professional journalism.
PatriotB6007
on Mar 19, 2009
@sdornan -- Most likely the sites are indeed at fault. They are likely relying on IE-specific quirks that are no longer present in IE8 standards mode. For example, take a site that designs for Firefox and then sends an IE-specific CSS file. It's quite likely that with the CSS improvements in IE8 that they no longer need to use that IE-specific CSS, however because it's there it now causes the site to look bad by applying unnecessary corrections. In other words if they were to send the same files to Firefox it would look just as bad.
sdornan
on Mar 19, 2009
If it were something that simple though, don't you think Microsoft.com would have made that change?
Dipsh t Admin
on Mar 20, 2009
I have to say that for once I agree with rj. Journalism ain't what it used to be, and with blogging and dying newspapers, it's only going to get worse.

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