Some thoughts about the beauty of the web

Today at 1:30 EDT was the IE9 keynote video. It was interesting to finally see some of the browser features rather than the being stuck with the technical previews. I find myself having mixed reactions to the tone of the video.

From a technical perspective, IE9 is a huge leap from IE8 and the IEs before it. This very blog, for example, now looks the same across all of the most recent browser versions. Many in the web development community weren't sure we would ever see the day.

Yet... why has it taken us so long to get here? Microsoft certainly has had the ability to produce something useful for a long time. And now that they have something respectable, I get this vibe of smugness. I can't help but think "Uhm... we've already been able to do most of this stuff for quite some time". The standards are the standards and adding hardware acceleration to them doesn't make Microsoft king of the hill. Remember IE9, you're just now arriving at the party that everyone else has been at for ages.

Not to mention that the beta being released while IE6 still has double digit market share leaves a very sour taste in my mouth. Bittersweet? I'd say so.

Still, I very much welcome IE9's release.