The next version of Internet Explorer, IE8, has passed the Acid2 test, which has historically been one of the toughest Web standards and compliance tests to pass.
Details of IE8 have been scarce, but in a half hour video with IE's general manager Dean Hachamovitch and architect Chris Wilson produced by Microsoft's Channel 9, the two discuss the importance of standards, compatibility and interoperability with the upcoming browser. There is also get a sneak peak at a development build of the new hush-hush browser.
Microsoft originally intended to add additional compliance support into IE7 (including the Acid 2 test), but it didn't make it into the shipping build. It was then put in put in a lower priority on the bottom of a large "wish list" of improvements for future updates, but to no avail as Microsoft focused its resources on building IE8.
No version of IE has been able to pass the test, while mainstream competing browsers like Opera, and Apple's Safari have managed to be compliant for the last few years. Mozilla's upcoming version 3 of Firefox is also set to pass the Acid 2 test, although the current shipping version of Firefox (version 2) will not.
There have been no announcements on other IE8 user features, or a release date.
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