Internet Explorer 9

[David]

I missed this at the time but about 4 weeks ago Microsoft released details of it's plans for IE9. As you'll see from this article, it looks as though we may be able to start using CSS3 sooner than anticipated. Apparently, MS have been liasing with WC3 and they can't have failed to notice how many web designers are now employing CSS3 techniques for other browsers. Of course, the other angle of attack is to improve performance for online apps in order to fend off Google Chrome and IE9 has some interesting new tricks, like using the GPU for graphics rendering.

Looks like the browser wars are back on and this time it's a good thing!

[francis]

Yes, I found it interesting that they launched it with screen shots of IE9 rendering CSS rounded corners - the stuff that content creators care about rather than benefits to the home user. It was, after all, the tech crowd that started Firefox's rise from niche product to something that altered Microsoft's position from "you don't get IE7 unless you buy Vista" to "IE7 for all!".

If they can get rounded corners, RGBA and drop shadows all working in CSS, that's really, really going to make life so much easier.

[francis]

Developer previews were released last night. HTML5! And not only that, but Microsoft has sided with the H264 codec for video - I suspect that Firefox and Opera will be seriously considering their options for Ogg as no one's going to want to upload H264, Ogg and, until IEs 6,7 and 8 die, Flash fallback. Some commentary on Mashable and Zeldman.

[Tom]

Microsoft staff live in a walled garden, work from 9-5 and do not care a fig for what happens outside the walls. Has anyone ever seen a Zune?