The idea that a browser is good because it enables developers to do interesting things is only half the story. If you're interested in a standardised web where anyone can create a browser without having to reverse engineer (or at least protect against) another manufacturer's 'extensions' and 'quirks' then what Microsoft and IE did was terrible. Doing new things is great, but doing them in a closed way that holds everyone else back is wrong when you're releasing apps to a global, open audience.
Plus, a large number of the things that IE 5.5 and 6.0 did, while innovative and interesting, were actually implemented in really shoddy ways that left gaping holes in security and paved the way for a torrent of malware. The fact Microsoft then left them insecure for years only compounded the problem.
Every company has a roadmap and a right to run it as they please. I believe that platform vendors also have a different and more weighty responsibility though: To be good stewards of how their platform evolves. This is something that Microsoft knows really well because they've pushed a lot of different platforms -- and where you can argue that they've done extremely well in come cases.
Now, we've all been berating Microsoft for making a crappy browser and that's all fun and stuff. But the main success criteria as a platform provider is not whether you're keeping the software updated, but whether you're keeping the platform vibrant. So while everybody's dancing on the (18 months in the future) grave of IE8 I believe we're keeping Microsoft up on the wrong promise. Deprecating IE8 is about removing software, not about keeping the web platform vibrant.
So I took offense with the PR-ness of it all. Microsoft has a right to neglect users by not providing an upgrade path away from IE8 and IE9 -- but if that's their choice they shouldn't get to brag about it.
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[ 0.20 ms ] story [ 11.6 ms ] threadPlus, a large number of the things that IE 5.5 and 6.0 did, while innovative and interesting, were actually implemented in really shoddy ways that left gaping holes in security and paved the way for a torrent of malware. The fact Microsoft then left them insecure for years only compounded the problem.
Don't all firms have roadmaps for their products?
Now, we've all been berating Microsoft for making a crappy browser and that's all fun and stuff. But the main success criteria as a platform provider is not whether you're keeping the software updated, but whether you're keeping the platform vibrant. So while everybody's dancing on the (18 months in the future) grave of IE8 I believe we're keeping Microsoft up on the wrong promise. Deprecating IE8 is about removing software, not about keeping the web platform vibrant.
So I took offense with the PR-ness of it all. Microsoft has a right to neglect users by not providing an upgrade path away from IE8 and IE9 -- but if that's their choice they shouldn't get to brag about it.