

MS deprecating IE8 is not a victory - boetter
http://steffentchr.dk/post/94574604334/deprecated

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onion2k
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.

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mariuolo
I really don't understand the point he's trying to make.

Don't all firms have roadmaps for their products?

~~~
steffentchr
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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n0body
they really need to decouple internet explorer from windows. if everybody
could run the latest ie, then it wouldn't be an issue anymore

