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The new Internet Explorer version is out in the open, and it is getting pretty good reviews. Still, it does not seem to be enough to convince the makers of other browsers that Microsoft should be let off the hook. (see our previous stories here and here) The consensus seems to be that the Redmond software giant has gotten better at handling software standards, but that their business practices have not changed. and

Less than a week ago, Microsoft had announced that it would support the so-called “super-standards” mode as an optional feature. This caused a chorus of boos from the Open Source community. Now, Microsoft has said that the IE8 will support the super-standards as the default mode, even though it might make some old web sites display improperly.

Hakon Wium Lie, the chief technology officer at Opera Software ASA in Oslo said, “My first reaction is positive. I was relieved to see that IE8 passes Acid2 test [a popular Internet standards test] by default. This is an indication that IE8 is more standards-compliant than its predecessor. Congratulations to the IE8 team!"

However, he went on to say that, "It was interesting to see that Microsoft gave a legal reason for their most recent turnaround. Certainly, I believe Opera's filing with the European Commission has influenced Microsoft's decision to do the right thing. We have brought up several technical issues in IE in our discussions with the commission, and only two of them have been partly addressed."