Wary Applause for Internet Explorer 7 Beta

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Yes, that's right. Applause. And yes, that crunching sound is me, eating my own words.

I downloaded IE7 Beta this week and, cringing inwardly, viewed a new CSS template from my current project on it. Holy cow and by George!, it actually rendered my design correctly. You could have knocked me down with a feather. (I believe this will be a Cliche Day for me.)

Now, Bill and I haven't always seen eye-to-eye. In fact, we parted ways some time ago, not exactly on the most amicable terms. I admit that, from time to time in my design past, I may even have harbored the teeniest, occasional thought of violence. So I'm a little flabbergasted. Impossible as it may seem, IE7 has been a pleasant surprise.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not going to be fooled into a reconciliation or anything. I don't imagine for a second that Bill & Co. have turned over a new leaf. If Firefox hadn't come along and scared the pants off them, IE7 would have been a completely different creature altogether. Believe me, it's not like Bill has had a sudden revelation and is about to turn open source on us.

Yet difficult as it may be for me to say, in all fairness I have to acknowledge--

Nice job, MS folks.

(I'm still keeping my eye on you, though.)