CSS Standards Compliance in Internet Explorer 7
(Page 1 of 4 )
There has been much anticipation and intense hype surrounding the release of Internet Explorer 7. Improvements range from better security issues to customization of user features; but the excitement in some web developers has been prompted by the compliancy standards of CSS that IE 7 embraces.
I can also say that an equal number are trying not to vomit at the idea of having to go back and seek out every style sheet they wrote that may break in the light of the new compliancy. Thinking about it makes my head hurt a little, and if you’ve ever written sloppy code (which we all have) or had to delicately balance a design with a few non-compliant hacks, I’m sure you’ll be reaching for the Advil, too.
Internet Explorer, while being one of the first browsers to incorporate support for CSS, has been the last to really get on board in regard to compliancy. CSS developers know that of all the browsers that they need to usually come up with workarounds while coding, Internet Explorer is the most buggy, as well as the most frustrating, and needs the most attention when it comes to CSS. And it is because of these bugs that workarounds have been implemented that may now cause these brilliant CSS hackers to cringe with the fixes incorporated in IE 7.
In the latest version of IE, Microsoft has fixed many of the bugs in IE that create problems for CSS. In this article, I want to look at some of the bugs that IE has contained relating to CSS, what they are, and how version 7 addresses these issues. You can only currently download a copy of IE 7 beta for development purposes if you have an MSDN developer license, but (at the time of this writing) supporters indicate that the release of IE 7 to the public may happen as early as by the end of January, 2006. I was able to get my hands on a copy for development purposes, and I have to say that thus far, I am fairly impressed.
I’m a big supporter of CSS compliant code, and luckily, I’ve never relied upon CSS hacks. Perhaps it is because I have a slight bit of OCD (Obsessive Coding Disorder) where I like my code neat and clean, nicely grouped into like sections and commented accordingly, and don’t ever want to have to think about it again once it’s completed, unless I decided I wanted to change a font color or something. I for one am happy that I won’t have to keep checking my designs in multiple browsers, although I know that currently everyone else in the world that uses IE (besides the beta testers, that is) won’t have a copy of IE 7 just yet.
The following list regarding the bug fixes where CSS is concerned you may have already seen once or twice, but I’ve taken the time to research them a bit and explain to you what they are and what they do to your once happy code. Therefore, my list will be quite different from those you’ve seen, and I’ve compiled the descriptions all into one place for your convenience. The sheer reason for this is that once you read the descriptions, you remember that particular problem, whereas with the sometimes cute or ominous nicknames these bugs have been given, you may not have a clue what Microsoft may have been referring to. I have left out those where I couldn’t find an explanation, but re-included them further down in the article.
Next: Common Bugs Fixed in IE 7 >>
More Style Sheets Articles
More By Jennifer Sullivan Cassidy
/ 8 
