Microsoft: We know better than you

[giza]

I just saw this comment on Slashdot, which states:

I saw something like this (not quite, but similar) a few years ago working with Java Script.

I wasn't that experienced with it, and as a result, certain pieces of my code were syntactically incorrect. Specifically, I was using the wrong characters for array indexing; I think I was using "()" instead of "[]". I would never have known there was even a problem if I hadn't been doing side by side testing with IE and Mozilla. A page that rendered correctly in IE would always show errors in Mozilla. This made absolutely no sense to me.

It wasn't until I viewed the source generated by each browser that I discovered the problem. IE was dynamically rewriting my JavaScript, replacing the incorrect delimiters with the correct ones, whereas Mozilla was simply taking my buggy code at face value.

And someone else followed up with this comment:

MSIE was embracing and extending your new syntax. They were effectively defining their own JavaScript variant. Meaning their JavaScript was a SuperSet of the real JavaScript standard. That means you can more easily fall into the trap of writing MSIE only JavaScript and inadverdently force your clients/customers/company to adopt MSIE as your standard browser.

All I gotta saw it "wow". I think the second poster is dead on in his assessment of Microsoft. Get people in the habit of doing something the wrong way, and make them dependent on your product in the process. I'm willing to bet that Microsoft might just do this in some of their other products, too.

*snort*

Comments

[plonq.livejournal.com]

Personally, I think the second poster needs to get a tinfoil hat.

I think I just hate people instead of global corporations...

[randomzen.livejournal.com]

Maybe my view is skewed, but I actually think Microsoft might be extending the syntax to cut down on dumbass end user problems. Not that they would have to deal with support issues, but this would keep the customers from getting frustrated and just not using their browser (or using it in favor of other ones that "always give me a problem").

This is that The Customer is Always Right syndrome. They don't want to understand what the problem is, they just want it to "go away" at all costs (to others).

[doco.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah... that reminds me of the good ol' days of HTML 3.0 when I was doing work in the adult entertainment industry (don't ask) and our ASP "wizard" forgot the </table> argument in one of his templates. Of course I was the only one to actually notice.

This is your web.
This is your web on Intarnet Explodar.

Sort of. :)

[khakiwolf.livejournal.com]

Or it could backfire on them if the companies don't invest in them for having sloppy JavaScript coding on their websites. =)

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

A similar sort of problem with IE:

Say there's a webserver that's improperly configured so that it sends an .mp3 file with a text/html MIME type instead of the proper audio/mp3 MIME type. According to the HTTP spec, the web browser should treat this file as an HTML file (i.e. attempt to open it in a browser window instead of routing it to an MP3 player). Internet Explorer, on the other hand, completely ignores the MIME type header and treats the file based on it's extension (i.e. the .mp3 file goes to the MP3 player no matter what MIME type it claims to be).

As a result, you'll occasionally come across misconfigured webservers that send EVERYTHING as text/html and where media files can only be used by IE users.