January 7, 2006

Microsoft is on the Standards Train

January 7, 2006, 11:57 PM | 0 Comments

It started earlier this year with Microsoft’s (mostly) standards-based redesign of MSN.com. Now, it’s nice to see that Microsoft is continuing in that vein by designing their new Windows Vista homepage using a standards-based design.

What’s even nicer is that the homepage is actually quite attractive (unlike MSN.com). It doesn’t have a whole lot of content in there yet, but it’s a good start so far. The markup isn’t terribly incredible (no lists for links, etc.) and it doesn’t validate, but that’s not really the point here. As we all know, validation is not the number one priority. Accessibility is.

It’s great that Microsoft is actually using a more standards based approach to their sites, which in the past have been very IE friendly using proprietary code that only runs in the newest versions of Internet Explorer. And while I agree that given Microsoft’s position in this industry, they should be leading the charge towards standards instead of playing catch-up, at least they’re now making efforts towards it. It gives developers and designers a little more hope of what’s to come from Microsoft and their upcoming release of IE7.

What we’ve seen over the past year is a distinct change of direction from Microsoft. They’re now blogging about their upcoming products, getting more regular users involved in beta testing, and they’re moving more and more towards standards based design. These are just a few things that Microsoft has done, and I’m sure there’s more to come.

Maybe it’s all just a clever marketing scheme, but I think it’s more than that. While I’m sure that marketing has something to do with it, I think the team in Redmond has finally started listening to the community and has opened their eyes to the benefit that community involvement can be.

I wouldn’t classify myself as a Microsoft hater, or a Microsoft zealot. I’m probably somewhere in between - skeptical but hopeful at the same time. I will say this though: from where I’m sitting, the future’s looking pretty bright for Microsoft.

Posted in: CSS, Design, Web Development, Web Standards