This post originated from an RSS feed registered with .NET Buzz by Brad Wilson. Original Post: Microsoft and Web Standards Feed Title: The .NET Guy Feed URL: /error.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/dotnetguy/Rss.aspx Feed Description: A personal blog about technology in general, .NET in specific, and when all else fails, the real world. Latest .NET Buzz Posts Latest .NET Buzz Posts by Brad Wilson Latest Posts From The .NET Guy

Kirk Biglione does an excellent job breaking down Microsoft's apparent disregard for web standards. His overview of the situation is fair and accurate, and well supported.

The problem is trying to appeal on purely technical merit. They don't make tools that emit crappy HTML because they're incapable of doing otherwise; they do itbecause they are the kings of lock-in. Their vested interest isn't in HTML: it's in keeping people using their marginal browser and disappointing tools. If a site only looks good on IE/Windows, Microsoft has to consider that a win. It means a larger hurdle for that company that might like to migrate to Linux desktops.

Much as the tech geeks in me dislikes it, the business geek in me is totally understanding. If I had the lion's share of operating system sales, I would be doing everything I could to lock people into my platform. That means every HTML editing tool I made would be chock full of ways to subtly lock yourself into my platform, just like FrontPage and Visual Studio and Internet Explorer are.

Let's be honest here: the people who care about standards compliance are by and large tech geeks. My mom at home on her Windows XP machines is using Internet Explorer. I doubt she even knows what HTML is, not does she care, nor should she care. Unless your product is aimed solely at tech geeks, it's rarely a good business decision to cater to them once you're out of the early adopter phase. It's just something we're going to have to live with for many years to come, and which may never be fixed.