As a team, we�ve spent the last year heads down working hard on IE8. Last week, we achieved an important milestone that should interest web developers. IE8 now renders the �Acid2 Face� correctly in IE8 standards mode.

If you�re not a web developer, the details of this blog post probably aren�t all that interesting for you. I�d like you to know that we�re building IE8 for many different customers (consumers, web service providers, independent software vendors, enterprises, web developers, and others), and we�ll cover more details of the non-developer oriented work (e.g. user experience, reliability, security, etc.) in other posts in the future, after MIX.

While web developers will immediately recognize what Acid2 means, I want to step back and offer some context for other readers of this blog who may not be familiar with web standards. Briefly: Acid2 is one test of how modern browsers work with some specific features across several different web standards.

At first glance, this test seems simple. I think it actually offers a view into the subtle and complex world of web standards in a number of ways. Showing the Acid2 page correctly is a good indication of being standards compliant, but Acid2 itself isn�t a web standard or a web standards compliance test. The publisher of the test, the Web Standards Project, is an advocacy group, not a web standards defining body.

Related:

• Channel 9: IE 8: On the Path to Web Standards Compliance - ACID 2 Test Pass Complete