Folks at MS are doing a pretty good job with IE recently. Even though IE9 is a bit behind "modern browsers" (text-shadow!) - it is a decent browser. And IE10 looks very promising, in fact it looks like it will have all it needs to be considered "modern". Could be even ahead in some areas (CSS Regions - http://www.adobe.com/devnet/html5/articles/css3-regions.html - or hardware acceleration).
My only fear is that with Microsoft's old-fashioned way of releasing updates (plus lack of support for older OSes) we still will have to support ~5 versions of IE for years.
Whilst Google can get a really high percentage of users onto the latest version of Chrome within days, Microsoft cannot do the same with IE9 (and IE10 when it comes out).
If Microsoft supported older versions of Windows with the newer versions of IE, and pushed 8, 9, 10 etc. via Windows Update, this wouldn't be as much of an issue. However, I think that what they are trying to do is force people to either (a) take the upgrade path to Windows 7 or 8, or (b) leave behind the latest software like Office >2010 and IE >8.
The problem is, upgrading Windows (any OS, really) is so fraught with complexity (and spending) that most people and IT organizations would rather stay on a nice, stable Windows (i.e. XP) and deal with the older software. (Especially nontechnical people who just have Win XP because that's what came on their computer.) Unfortunately, that means the developers have to pay for it.
That's nice - but when will they add WebGL? I know about Microsoft's security concerns, but I can't wait to see how 3D rendering could innovate the web. I even have a couple of ideas myself...
Unlikely to happen soon I reckon. That's way heaps of work for them to do on the security side. They'll need to do lots of work with 3d drivers.
You can do some pretty nice things with 3d transforms. I've done some nice things anyways :)
We'll see what happens once webgl gets into mobile safari. Perhaps lots of people will use it, and then MS might be convinced that all that work is worth it.
But is it even planned to come to IE11? IE12? When can we expect it from IE?
On html5test.com IE9 still seems to score about half as any other Windows browser, so hopefully IE10 will try to catch-up with them in more HTML5 functionality. They say they want to support HTML5 but so far they are supporting it the least.
Every release since IE 8 has been so insanely far ahead of the previous one- you can't really blame the current team since they haven't stopped yet. They really do want to support HTML5, they just have a lot more ground to make up than everyone else.
You know about their security concerns, but you still ask "When will they add WebGL?" The obvious answer is "when those security concerns are allayed, which is not in the near future."
They probably won't ever support WebGL, because it conflicts with their DirectX-on-Windows strategy which they've invested huge resources in to. The security scares are just to whitewash over the real issue - people are more likely to accept security as a reason than some strategy thing. (It's actually a very clever move - everyone's talking about WebGL security rather than Microsoft's strategy, so it's working. Them be smart folk at MS!)
It may have been smart, but I don't think it's working. I see more and more developers working on WebGL, and I think it will become an important standard that all browsers will adopt and promote this year, with the exception of IE. So Microsoft will be the one looking bad ultimately, because they will be once again behind in supporting standards.
Also, I want to know how other browsers can work in the tile-based interface in Windows 8, hearing how its interface is based on IE10? Will they even allow other browsers in there, or will they risk an anti-trust lawsuit over the browser, again?
For all the talk about supporting the cross-platform web, Microsoft is still trying to lock it down to their own OS.
It is true it is a security risk, and it is true the gfx driver culture is not a culture of security.
Security risks can be overcome. The implementation can overcome risk, as Chrome and Firefox's secure implementations prove. So the fact the risk exists is not a complete justification for not supporting the feature at all.
Given that it conflicts with Microsoft's strategy anyway, the conclusion is the security concerns are used as an excuse rather than a reason.
And it doesn't even seem like a lot of people are actively leaning on Chrome and Firefox's WebGL implementations, so calling them "secure" seems a little premature.
Has anyone used IE10's file API and can speak to its capabilities? IE has lagged behind other browsers in replacing Google Gears for accessing file contents. Has Microsoft implemented this?
Edit: Just realized that there was in fact more info on the file API on that very page. The answer seems to be yes.
When will IE allow decent plugin development? Right now you need to jump through hoops, mess with c++ code, compile dll(s) and hope the user will actually install external exe. Insane.
