CSS Standards: CSS 2.1, CSS 3 vs. Browser Support -
Response 1, Response 2
The changes that CSS 2.1 and 3 provide are aspects that
will really help web designers create pages that are more
tailored to what their customers want to see. These changes
should have been made years ago. The argument here is that
the only reason that CSS2.1 isn’t even implemented
yet is due to browser support. If companies wont update
their browsers then the standards cannot be implemented.
This is such a deep issue that it’s hard to write out
here all the different angles. First of all, it comes down
to the largest and most used browser, Internet Explorer,
which is made by Microsoft. Microsoft has control of most
of the browser market because they make the operating
system that most of the others are installed on. The only
exception would be safari that is installed on apple
computers. This is a powerful position because why would
anyone buy or download any other browsers if they already
have one on their computer? This is why most people use
Microsoft. Microsoft knows this so why would they have any
incentive to change their browsers? They don’t. Now
we can understand why browsers didn’t accept the new
changes. If other browsers changed their standards for CSS
and Microsoft didn’t then when the developers created
pages with the new code then it would look and render
correct on other browsers such as firefox and safari, but
would look incorrect on the internet explorer websites.
Since most people us Internet Explorer then it would
obviously be a big mistake to implement new standards
unless ALL companies update their browsers. Why
doesn’t Microsoft update their browsers? It costs
money and time to change and support the new changes to a
product of theirs, and no company would do this unless they
are going to make money off of it. Microsoft already
provides Internet explorer for free and as no reason to put
money into it, unless they are forced.