Windows Internet Explorer 8 Expert Zone Chat (March 20, 2008)

Chat Topic: Windows Internet Explorer 8 Expert Zone Chat
Date: Thursday, March 20, 2008

Please note: Portions of this transcript have been edited for clarity.

Daniel (Moderator):
Hi everyone and thank you for coming to our Internet Explorer 8 Beta chat.

At this time I'd like to have our Experts for the chat today introduce themselves:

Introductions:

Daniel (Moderator):
Let's get started with our chat. Before we begin, though, I'd like to have our Experts introduce themselves and then they'll get started answering your questions.

Allison [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi Everyone! My name is Allison. I am a PM on the IETeam and have been working on the Technical Beta program.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Hi, I'm the Internet Explorer Platform Architect. I tell people what to do. Occasionally they listen. Occasionally I'm right, so it works out.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Hi, my name is Harel Williams and I am a Program Manager on Layout/Rendering/CSS. Glad to be here!

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi! I'm Helen and I work on the User Experience team in IE - more specifically the Favorites bar, your Favorites/Feeds/History, and tabs.

Jane[MSFT] (Expert):
Hi my name is Jane Maliouta and I am a program manager on the IE Team. For IE8 I own installation and deployment, so I’ll be happy to answer any installation questions you might have.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi, my name is John Hrvatin. I'm the program manager for the developer tools and javascript engine integration with IE.

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi, My name is Kristen. I work on the IE Customer Feedback team overseeing the IE Team Blog and customer engagement.

Phil - MSFT (Expert):
Hi everyone. My name is Phil and I am part of the Sustaining Engineering group for Internet Explorer.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi! I'm Eric Lawrence, security program manager for IE.

Start of Chat:

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: My company's site is running on xhtml 1.0 transitional doctype on ie6/ie7. Why ie8 isn't rendering the right way?
A: Snapster, can you be more specific about "the right way"? Are you sending different stylesheets to IE?

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can we expect later betas or the final version to have a way to display both IE7 and IE8 modes at the same time? Having a way to show both rendering engines side by side would be very helpful for comparison.
A: Is the compatibility mode choice in the web dev toolbar not enough? You could display the two pages side by side and set the compatibility modes separately.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: What is the status on XHTML-support in IE?
A: Alex, I presume by XHTML support you mean by support for the XHTML mime type. We have not implemented this in IE8 at this time; we'd welcome additional input about the scenarios for which you'd find it useful.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: What about UI customizability? Why can't I hide the command bar, or the buttons left to the tabs? Why can't I rearrange IE like I could with IE 6?
A: We've had multiple requests for the customization of these bars/buttons. We'll keep this in mind. Thanks for your feedback!

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can we expect later betas or the final version to have a way to display both IE7 and IE8 modes at the same time? Having a way to show both rendering engines side by side would be very helpful for comparison.
A: Hi, Fyrd. The Developer Tools let you change the rendering mode of the page per tab so you can view a page in two rendering modes side-by-side. In the Developer Tools, choose View->Change Compatibility Mode, and click the desired mode. Note that the tools only change the rendering mode and not the user agent string or the version vector used when evaluating conditional comments.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: What do you guys think of the Acid-tests, especially Acid3? Is it your goal to let IE 8 pass Acid3?
A: Alex, The ACID3 test is a collection of interesting tests, spread across a large set of standards. Some of those standards will see improvements in IE8 - in fact, IE8 already improves on IE7's score - but we are focused on the most important features and standards to make web developers' lives easier. The ACID3 test does not map directly to that goal.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Congratulations on a great looking product. I've been actively using IE8 since the first publicly available Beta 1. Is IE8 feature complete at this point
A: Thanks for the positive feedback! Remember, it is only a beta, so there will be some additional features in final release :)

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: Will IE8 (or future versions of IE) support the MNG image format? (MNG is animated PNG)
A: snookums, IE8 does not currently support MNG. We'd be interested in scenarios for this support; I can't really comment on the feature set for future versions of IE yet.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Does Microsoft plan any major UX / UI changes in IE8? As we remember interface improvements of IE7 have been already introduced in Beta 1. Does it mean there will be major visual changes in Internet Explorer 8?
A: Do you have specific changes you'd like to see?

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: the stylesheet are the same for IE6/IE7 and FF. When i look at the IE8 browser, everything isn't aligned correctly. It suppose to be centered in but now its to the left. the image inside a div suppose to be centered but now its to the left.
A: Snapster, can you be more specific about the CSS property (I assume) that isn't functioning the way you expect? Are you centering elements with margin-left and margin-right set to auto?

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: @Harel - Yeah, that's good enough, didn't know about that option. Thanks!
A: No problem!

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: I meant XHTML-mimetype-compatability indeed. Why doesn't IE accept application/xml+xhtml and will that change?
A: Alex, we don't support application/xml+xhtml yet because we don't want to support that unless we are doing it right - i.e. proper XML parser, very solid styling support, exact DOM implementation, and other schema support. Until we have that infrastructure, I'd rather not turn on the mime type support.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Will it be possible to finally run MSIE 7 and MSIE 8 simultaneously on the same system without using VPC images?
A: No, this is not something IE8 will support. However, the versioning built into the platform lets you view what the site would look like in IE7, with the exception of changes in the networking stack or security protections.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: WebSlices is a good thing but it's limited to what site owners do on their site; I wish it could be like in Leopards Safari where I can select any part of any page to then view it. Is there a patent problem or Microsoft thinks this isn't the way?
A: I think Web Slices and Leopard/Safari's web clips have different goals. Web slices are specified by the web author while the web clips are specified by the user. I am assuming you like the web clip functionality and I will take it back to the team for consideration in the future :)

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Does each tab now launch as a separate process with separate memory spaces?
A: By default, all tabs run in one process and the IE frame runs in a separate process. If the tab process crashes, IE will reopen the tabs as part of the automatic crash recovery feature. When reopning tabs, each tab will have its own process so a second crash would only take down a single tab.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: 'Do you have specific changes you'd like to see?' - I have, I want that Past and go option for adress and search field!
A: Ok - this is great feedback. I'll send it to people on the IE team who own this. Thanks!

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: I'm wondering th same as Alex -- Is there any chance of application/xhtml+xml support in IE8? Or if not in 8, then perhaps in version 9?
A: See previous answer. We can't really promise support for any particular feature or standard in future releases.

Jane[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: How about providing 'Paste and Go' feature for URL pasted in address bar in right click context menu?
A: That's a great idea. I'll pass your feedback to the team for further consideration. Thanks.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: My company's site is running on xhtml 1.0 transitional doctype on ie6/ie7. Why ie8 isn't rendering the right way?
A: Can you point me to the site, or describe in more detail what you mean by "the right way"?

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I have a strange problem. When I try to go to http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/chats/chatroom.aspx in IE8, with or without IE7 emulation, IE says it cannot display the page. I'm now using Firefox!
A: Is that the only site that's not displaying ? If the error message you receive is about not finding the page, it's likely a network issue.

Marc Silbey [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Are there plans to enhance JScript for IE8? Specifically, will HTMLElement finally make an appearance?
A: We've heard from web developers that they spend a lot of time optimizing their sites to be fast in IE and so for IE8 we're really focused on improving jscript performance.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: When running IE8 in IE7 compat mode, will the conditional comments work as if it was IE7? would the contents of "IE lte 7" comments be included?
A: Well, there are two different scenarios. If you set the compat mode through the web dev toolbar, it will not trigger IE7 conditional comments or send an IE7 user agent string. However, if you use the "emulate IE7" button, then it will trigger IE7 conditional comments and send the IE7 UA String.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: On XHTML: "we'd welcome additional input about the scenarios for which you'd find it useful". What is the preferred way to report such scenarios?
A: comments on IEBlog; posts on your own blog; email (Chris.Wilson@microsoft.com, though I can't promise speedy response).

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: A scripting question: IE8's new "adaptive" Zoom feature (good move!) causes the screen.width/height to report zoomed values, NOT the actual screen width/height. Very unexpected. Same with availWidth/Height and the #client#caps values. It throws off the ana
A: Yup, Rich, that was a bug.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: What about Conditional Comment ? using "if IE 8" or "if IE 8.0000" does not work on IE8 beta 1? Is this correct or am I doing something wrong ?
A: IE8 conditional comments should work in Beta 1, assuming you have not depressed the

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: Will IE8 support SVG or stick with VML? Are there plans to support SVG?
A: We can't comment on feature set in future release. We would like to know how you would want to use vector graphics, to make sure anything we implement meets your scenario needs.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Helen, I think there is always a place for improvements, particularly such area as UX and UI. And we know what the great things Microsoft`s UX lab can do. I`m interesting if something new around UX and interface design will be introduced in IE8 later.
A: Beta 2, coming out later this year, will contain improvements to the user experience.

Jane[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I hope that the core product does not fall victim to "feature bloat"... From a user point of view I love Activities and Web Slices! Will administrators be able to restrict Activities and Web Slices though?
A: We are looking into the best way to provide management and control for ITs for the new features in I8. This includes Activities and Webslices. Thank you.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: IE returns a different computed style than other browsers. Will IE8 return pixel values to fall in line with other browsers?
A: Thanks for the feedback. We've definitely heard that the computed styles APIs would be useful, but at this time we're not discussing features for future releases.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I have a 100MB attachment stuck in my out box that I cannot delete.
A: This is an IE Chat. You may want to ask someone from Outlook about that :)

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: About conditional comments, I tested on IE8 mode (that is Emulate button OFF). can't make it work. reall y strange.
A: Hey DebugBar. Can you send me example code that I can take a look at?

Marc Silbey [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can you tell whether XHTML is already out of the probable features for *IE8* final, or whether the jury is still out?
A: See Chris Wilson's previous answer on this. We can't promise support for features or standards in future releases.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: Are there any plans to add more CSS3 properties to IE8? (CSS3 selectors, for example)
A: Fyrd, we're really focused on completing CSS2.1 first; are there particular selectors you would have specific uses for?

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: On IE8 not showing this chatroom page: This is the only page that doesn't display. It's not a network issue.
A: We'll have to further investigate why the chatroom page is not showing up in IE8 after this chat. Thank for bringing this issue to our attention.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: A scripting question: IE8's new "adaptive" Zoom feature (good move!) causes the screen.width/height to report zoomed values, NOT the actual screen width/height. If unfixable, can we get screen.deviceX/Y properties that give accurate values?
A: Hey Rich. We are aware of the problem with screen.width/height misreporting. We are working on a fix for this.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: Any plans to add APNG support in IE8 by final?
A: Alpha Channel transparency in PNG images is in IE7, actually.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: When might we expect beta 2 :-)
A: Beta 2 will be out later this year.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: @ChrisWilson: Animated PNGs not Alpha transparency, that came in IE7.
A: Ah right. Then see MNG answer - not in current feature set.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Is the "Emulate IE7" button only for HTML/CSS or handling JScript as well ? I tested with Emulate IE7 On and I get access to "window.postMessage", which is an IE8 method...
A: Document mode controls fixes we've made to APIs like GetElementById which would be considered breaking changes otherwise. On the other hand, some new functionality (e.g. XDR, postMessage, etc) is available regardless of mode, as it does not cause a breaking change.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: Chris: afaik is the apng still buggy when a apng is placed in a element with a certain opacity != 1. Will this be solved?
A: Element opacity? Do you mean the CSS3 draft feature?

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: VML/SVG follwup: I'm the author of a webapp that allows the users to draw geofences on a map. Using VML for IE and SVG for everthing else is a pain, and I'd love to see IE use the same standard. I personally prefer the ease of use with VML over SVG, but
A: Hey snookums. Yea, we definitely understand that it is a pain to code twice for the same functionality. It is clear that there is a lot of interest in SVG, and its on our radar. We are glad you find VML easy to use, though!

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: Will IE8 support the rgba value? As in: background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);
A: Not in current feature set.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: On IE8 protected mode, there is a "main" process that is handling only the main window. So BHO are not attached to this process. If the BHO needs to interact with the main window how can we do that ?
A: Yes, we have what is called the "Frame Process" and the "Tab Process(es)". We do not expect 3rd party code to be running in the frame process, for performance and stability reasons. Having said that, that doesn't mean you cannot interact with the window itself. It would be helpful to understand more about what you are trying to accomplish.

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: How do I get to the expert from Outlook?
A: Outlook is not part of the IE team. Is there a specific issue you are experiencing with IE and Outlook?

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: What where your reasons for not fully adepting the w3c specifications about the enabling of cross-site requests?
A: mithras, we've been having a lively conversation in the Web API WG over the last week or so about that topic - in short, because we feel our approach is more secure.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: How closely does the new JScript engine compare against the ECMA-262 standard for JavaScript?
A: The JScript team has written a document specifying differences between our engine and the standard. it's linked from this blog post (http://blogs.msdn.com/jscript/archive/2007/10/29/ecmascript-3-and-beyond.aspx) and directly at http://wiki.ecmascript.org/lib/exe/fetch.php?id=resources%3Aresources&cache=cache&media=resources:jscriptdeviationsfromes3.pdf.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: For info there is no version string on the registry.
A: Yes, conditional comments are expected to work. My page up at www.enhanceie.com/useragent.aspx should reflect the IE8 Version Vector in IE8 mode, and the IE7 version vector in "Emulate IE7" mode. I've verified this on each build.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Strict//EN">
<html>
<head>
<title>Version Targeting</title>

</head>
<body>
<h1>This text should be in blue if running in IE7</h1>
</body>
</html>

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
DebugBar, your code looks right. I posted an example, so see if there might be any differences.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: @Eric : Let's say I have a toolbar which has a menu to change the window size. I need to access the main window. Let's say I want to capture the entire page without scroll, I will resize the window to suppress the scrolls, capture it, and restore the
A: Ah, interesting scenario. I believe that this should actually be possible using the APIs on the window object in the tab process itself, but shoot me a mail and I can hook you up with the experts on this topic.

Jane[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Popup Blocker Filter level always sets back to Medium, even when changed to High or Low.
A: When are you seeing the popup blocker filter level to get reset? Is it on every launch of IE or on upgrades from IE7 to IE8? We have seen reports of similar issues from our tech beta participants and we are investigating the cause. Thanks.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):r
emember, you can't put the conditional comments within the style block.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Why does IE not have a MIME type editor? Other browsers have configurable MIME types.
A: MIME-type associations are a platform setting; you can edit them using Windows Explorer's View > File Types menu.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: How about HTML5 client-side database support?
A: I'm not sure I understand your question? IE8 Beta 1 does support the DOM Storage proposal, which can be used to store large quantities of data on the local machine. If you have scenarios that call for a relational database, it would be interesting to hear more about them.

Jane[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Will Beta 2 support CSS RTL ?direction: rtl;
A: We can't comment on feature set of future releases. The best way to find out about upcoming features is from IEBlob: http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Yes, but under Windows Vista, MIME types are not configurable as only one program can be associated with a particular file type.
A: I'm not sure I understand what exactly you're looking for? The MIME-type associations are stored in the registry; there's only one handler for a given MIME type.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Yes, I'm aware of that old document (from Fall 2007). However, I was wondering about any new changes to that engine that would appear in IE8 that may differ.
A: Changes to the jscript engine in IE8 Beta 1 focused on performance so it didn't address the differences outlined in that document and at the moment we're not commenting on future releases.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: @crist wilson. http://www.automart.com and see how it is a mess
A: Actually, I think the code for http://www.automart.com is not expecting us to be standards-compliant; other browsers have similar rendering problems on the site (e.g. Opera), particularly when set to identify as IE (there is browser-sniffing on the site as well.) The best thing for you to do in the short term is to use the meta X-UA-Compatible tag to protect your site's function.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Why would there be differences between IE7 and IE7 Compat mode in IE8 when you view Googles Gmail?
A: I am assuming when you say IE7 Compat Mode, you mean setting that via the web dev toolbar. Basically, when you set the compat mode through the web dev toolbar, you are rendering the page like IE7 would, but you are sending the IE8 UA String to google. Therefore, gmail might be doing some incorrect version detection and sending back markup and script that is not meant for IE7/IE8. We are working with Google and other partners to resolve incorrect UA String detection.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: In IE7 in the Feeds pane there used to be an icon next to the word 'Feeds' that showed whether there were new feed items or not. This icon is absent in IE8 Beta 1. I hope it'll return in a future beta or the final version.
A: Great feedback. One way you can see feed updates in Beta 1 is to put feeds (dragging and dropping from this "Feeds" pane in the Favorites Center) on the Favorites bar and the button will bold when there are new feed items. (You can even put multiple feeds into a folder on the Favorites bar and the folder text will bold when one of the feeds within the folder has updated.) If you have any questions about how to do this - please let me know!

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: IE protected mode seems to cut communication with IE through OLE automation. Is scripting IE through InternetExplorer.Application (say, from PowerShell) definitively out of the supported ways to use IE, or is there a way to make it work?
A: Please elaborate on your specific scenario. We've done work in IE to ensure that you're able to properly drive InternetExplorer instances created from local scripts.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: Why do alphatransparant PNG's render differently in IE than in other browsers? And why doesn't it always repeat backgrounds, but a strange kind of fade?
A: I'd appreciate a repro case on the background repeat issue. As for alpha transparency looking different, I think we have an issue when gamma != 2.2; use the default gamma of 2.2 and it should look identical across browsers.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I assume since you intend to fully support CSS2.1, we will be seeing more generated content options too? Specifically support for images and background images would allow all sorts of possibilities to web designers.
A: Generate Content is part of CSS 2.1 and our goal is to be complete in this regard. That includes generated content that includes images, even though that functionality wasn't available in the beta.

Jane[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: @Jane Will IEBlob be available for download? :)
A: This sounds like the issue we are working on. Thanks for bringing it up. :)

Jane[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: @Jane Will IEBlob be available for download? :)
A: LOL :)

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: @Chris - :first-child, :last-child and :target seem particularly useful to me. Also, I applaud your intentions for full CSS2.1 support, I think that's an excellent goal.
A: Thanks (for both the request and the applause). :)

Marc Silbey [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Will IE8 support HTMLElement? addEventListener? DOMContentLoaded?
A: We are working on improving our standards support to be more interoperable with other browsers. That said, we can't really promise support for features or standards in future releases. You can look for the features you want on the IE8 Beta Feedback site and vote on them. Check out the IE blog post here for more information: http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/03/05/ie8-beta-feedback.aspx

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: I read Murray Sargent's blog about math support in LineService/PageServices. It looks great. Do you use the same version of Line/pageServices in IE? How hard would it be to use it for supporting MathML (maybe not in IE8, though, let's say in the future)?
A: We use a newer version of PTLS. MathML is still a significant amount of work, though there is some great work that's been done by Murray's team.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Why is the user interface in IE8 beta also locked down? After feedback from so many people that they want the customizability to reposition toolbars, why is this not implemented?
A: Thanks, great feedback. Beta 1 was primarily focused on developers and there's another Beta coming out later this year.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I've implemented an IE 8 Activity. When I try to add the activity IE 8 gives me the error "Internet Explorer could not install this activity provider. There was a problem with the activity provider's information." How do I get more information?
A: The most likely explanation is that the XML is malformed.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Is there a list or repository for known IE8 css bugs? I'm worried about IE8 working flawlessly for Acid 2 but breaking everywhere else.
A: We have extensive internal tracking for CSS bugs, but that's a great idea. But do remember that this is a beta and we are addressing the current issues in our CSS implementation. How would structuring this type of information best assist you?

Matt H [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Microsoft made IE8 Beta publicly available, while IE7 Beta 1 hadn`t been a public release. Does it mean IE8 is more ready, successfully at this stage? Does it mean we may wait more regular public releases and less releases for technical beta testers only?
A: Continuing on Ray Ozzie's announcement of our commitment to interoperability (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/interoperability/default.mspx), it was important for us to make IE8 Beta 1 available for all web developers to begin testing their sites and applications right away. The timing of any future releases will be based on the readiness of the product, and we plan to release another Beta later in the year.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Will the "Make available offline" feature of IE 6 that was dropped in IE 7 return for IE 8? Also what is Microsoft's official term for this so I can request it and vote to restore this feature?
A: The feature in question was called "Offline Favorites" and you are correct in noting that this was removed in IE7 and is not present in IE8 Beta 1.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: @EricLaw: regarding IE automation, it was broken in IE7. I just did a quick test, and it looks like you fixed it in ie8. Thanks! (no answer needed)
A: Thanks for the confirmation! :-)

Jane[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: [59] I am talking of manual resetting.Its only for upgrades from IE7 to IE8
A: This sounds like the issue we are working on. Thanks for bring this up.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: The current feature set seems to be lacking some key benefits, such as Animated PNG (MNG), is the feature set closed, or still open for discussion until the beta phase is over?
A: Naturally, our ability to modify our plans decreases as we move further in the product cycle, but we're always glad to hear feedback about the features that will benefit customers the most.

Marc Silbey [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I'm seeing a createRenderStyle method showing up in the document object. Any clue as to what that is and will it be documented/implemented in the future?
A: Are you seeing createRenderStyle show up in the DOM and accessible via jscript? CreateRenderStyle is a documented interface here: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa752525.aspx

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Why is the Temporary Internet Files cache limited to 1024 MB in IE7 and later? What happens why users download 4.3 GB sized DVD images using IE?
A: The limit there is for performance reasons; we've determined that for data-structure reasons, having this limit improves overalll performance. Having said that, the "limit" only controls the trigger for the cache scavenger, which performs cleanup. When downloading large files, they're exempted from scavenging and thus not counted against this limit. For completeness, I should probably note that IE7 & 8 only support 4GB downloads; larger downloads will not work without using a download manager.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
@debugbar: did you get my code sample?

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: When will IE support ICC v4 color management and HD Photo standards? For design professionals, these are important.
A: xpclient, we can't comment on the feature set of future releases. There are a number of photographers on the IE team, though.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
This code works in IE8:
<Code Sample>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Strict//EN">
<html>
<head>
<title>Version Targeting</title>

</head>
<body>
<h1>This text should be in blue if running in IE7</h1>
</body>
</html>

Jane[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can the IE team implement either a resizable search box (double headed arrow) or a dynamically self adjusting box that expands and shrinks as users type?
A: Thanks for bringing this up. I will pass your feedback to the team and we'll see what we can do.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: Both IE6 & IE7's object model does not distinguish properties from attributes. This is also the case with IE8b1. Will this be adressed at all?
A: Not actually true - IE8b1 does distinguish properties from attributes.

Matt H [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Will Silverlight be bundled with IE 8 and if so will it be mandatory? Will IEAK 8 support installing Siverlight along with IE?
A: Microsoft Silverlight™ and Windows Internet Explorer 8 will ship independently. At this time we have not announced any specific plans or features relating to IEAK 8.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Here's a request for in the future when you decide to support SVG, have SVG files work both as CSS backgrounds and as just image elements. This would be a great use of SVG that isn't widely supported yet among other browsers.
A: Thanks for the feature request. Sounds like a great suggestion. :)

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: The current "Save password" option in IE is not very flexible. Once users click "No", they are not prompted again for that website. Also, IE does not save the password depending on whether the logon was successful or not. What is being done regarding this?
A: Thanks for the feedback. Determining whether the login "was successful" isn't really possible to do reliably for HTML forms login, as there's not standard for the website to indicate that a given login failed. Obviously, there are ways that we could try to guess, but these heuristics would not be perfect.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Will it be possible to programm your own plugins later ?
A: Internet Explorer has supported a rich extensibility model since IE5 or earlier. See http://www.enhanceie.com/ie/dev.asp for plenty of resources on extending IE using script, .NET, or C++.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: You said that file types are handled at the platform level. However, ActiveX plugins running inside the browser don't seem to respect those settings. I wish the IE team had a separate MIME configuration option.
A: Can you elaborate on what specifically you mean when you say that "ActiveX plugins running inside the browser don't seem to respect those settings"? What plugin isn't behaving as you'd like?

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: How can I find the JVM for Vista?
A: Microsoft no longer provides a JVM. The Sun JVM is available for Vista, try http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: Will the toggle IE7 mode button make in into the final version of IE8 or is it just during the testing phase?
A: We're still evaluating what the compatibility experience will be like in the final release.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Will IE8 include bandwidth detection to limit concurrent connections for lower bandwidth users?
A: Beta 1 detects the connection speed to decide the number of concurrent connections to allow. This is mentioned in the 'Better Ajax Development' white paper at http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/ie8whitepapers/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=581.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: QuickTime, VLC and such plugins do not respect Windows File Types and regardless of those settings, try to open media content in their own players.
A: I would suggest that you do not install plugins that do not respect your preferences.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: Regarding Connect feedback, I asked through Connect whether filing a few request for XHTML/SVG/etc was frowned upon, or helpful for prioritization, but got no answer yet (I know you are busy...)
.A: Please do search for them first, and vote on what's already there first, but go ahead and file them if they're not there. Please include as much scenario motivation as possible.

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: The current way of reporting bugs is lacking. There's no way to directly submit a bug, which is quite frustrating. Will this bug reporting system change to something like Mozilla's Bugzilla?
A: As our IE8 Feeback post on the IE Blog explains, http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/03/05/ie8-beta-feedback.aspx, we were a little overwhelmed by the feedback we received in IE7 and didn't do a good job of handling "free form" bug entries, so we are trying a different approach for IE8. We are continually evaluating our feedback processes. In the meantime, the post does outline feedback channels for IE8, including the ability to apply for the IE8 Tech Beta allowing you the ability to submit a bug directly.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: One question regarding passwords. Is it possible to create a secure storage inside browser to hold saved passwords. I could use only one password for the storage. It could be a great feature.
A: Thanks for the suggestion. IE currently stores website passwords in secure storage in Windows. The "one password for the storage" that secures all of your website passwords is based on your Windows logon information. Other users running in different accounts on your computer do not have access to your website passwords.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Please do not remove inline autocomplete in IE8. Also, are there ANY other features (including minor ones) which are being removed in IE8 which were in IE7?
A: Thanks for the feedback. Is there a feature you're specifically referring to (a feature you depend upon) that you would like to see again in IE8?

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: Why were you guys so quiet after you've shipped IE 7? Why were the only updates on your blog about security-updates, but not about IE 8? This was very frustrating as a lot of people thought that there would be no IE 8...
A: We spent a lot of time heads-down working out what we were doing, and getting going on the new layout engine. We understand the frustration, and we're working out how to be open while setting appropriate expectations.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Could the download feature of IE be enhanced with these features: 1. When a download is started, allow clicking the "Open Folder" button. 2. When the limit of concurrent downloads is reached, give the user a warning message. 3. Warn when download > 4 GB.
A: Thank you for the suggestions. For what its worth, #2 was improved in IE8 by allowing 6 connections per host for broadband users. If you'd like more simultaneous connections, see the registry script at www.enhanceie.com/ie/tweaks.asp

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: ie8 has introduced the webslice based, but not exactly, on the hAtom microformat spec. Is the intention to maintain a separate format or will there be more public work to try and reconcile the differences in a future spec revision
A: chris, we've been working with the Microformats community on this; in short, hAtom is not specific enough for the WebSlices scenario (we don't want the entire web cluttered with "subscribe to this" when it's not dynamic content), but we do ideally want to fit in to that community as well as possible.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Not a specific feature, but MS consistently removes some features from newer versions.
A: Removing features is always a painful decision. We are very reluctant to remove features from new versions unless there are overwhelming reasons to do so.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: @Chris Wilson about props / attributes, in IE8b1 if I extend document: and open up the Developer Tools, it displays: <BODY Foo=function() {}> So I assumed props / attributes were still treated as the same. Bug?document.body.Foo = function() {}
A: We're still working out the properties/attributes display in the Developer Tools.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: At times I have wanted to display tables, rows and cells as "block" or "inline" using CSS. This in currently not supported in IE8, but works in other browsers. Is this a bug you intend to fix?
A: Yes :) Our goal is to be CSS 2.1 Complete by release

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Certain options in IE7 like "Open new tab next to the current tab" and "Open tabs the next time IE is started" are gone. I hope these options are not being removed.
A: As noted elsewhere, IE8 Beta 1 is a developer focused release. The current UI does not necessarily reflect the final product.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Will IE8 properly implement PNG gamma correction?
A: Define "properly"? Arguably, the problem is that IE does gamma correction, but gamma correction varies by platform. See http://hsivonen.iki.fi/png-gamma/ for a discussion of the topic.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: @Chris Wilson: Great. One more thing, could you *please* have the dev tools display elements as lowercase? It's so 1998 :)
A: But 1998 was a good year!

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Currently, selecting show large icons (24 x 24 icons) has no effect on the Favorites/Links bar. Please fix this in the next beta.
A: If you only had 16x16 icons, would you want these to be blown up to 24x24?

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: @Chris Wilson: Great. One more thing, could you *please* have the dev tools display elements as lowercase? It's so 1998 :)
A: Actually, John says we were going for 1999...

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Any suggestions to determine within IE which plug-in/ActiveX/ BHO is used to open MIME types? XPIE6 displays broken image for TIF files within IE, and IE8 Beta 1 upgrade on the machine has same behavior. TIF assoc to Picture and Fax viewer outside IE.
A: IE itself has no capability to display TIF files. Therefore, they will not display inside the browser unless you install a 3rd party plugin. I believe QuickTime is one plugin that will render TIF inside IE, I believe there are a few others.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: A suggestion regarding the screen.width issue: Since there are already screen.device/logicalX/YDPI properties, is it feasable to provide a screen.deviceX/Y and logicalX/Y properties to provide a full picture? A useful thought, I think.
A: Hey Rich. I am not exactly sure what you are asking for. At this time we do provide screen.deviceXDPI, screen.deviceYDPI, screen.logicalXDPI, screen.logicalYDPI. Are you looking for something beyond that?

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Currently, IE does not show comprehensive page information in File => Properties like Mozilla Firefox does. Any plans to add ability to show more detailed information?
A: It would be great to understand which information in particular you would find most useful. thanks!

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: How much of a priority is CSS3 and HTML5?
A: Blaise, parts of HTML5 are obviously high-priority - local storage, ajax navigation, etc. For CSS, we're primarily focused on CSS2.1 first.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: The IE developer toolbar has one major usability issue, which is, Shift+R turns on the ruler. This creates a problem when typing capital R. Please fix this.
A: Thanks for the feedback. We've had this reported and are looking at it for future releases of the developer tools.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: The Advanced options on the Advanced tab and Security options in 'Internet options' both don't seem to be documented in the help file starting with IE7. Please document them. Earlier IE6 at least had context sensitive help.
A: Good feedback, thanks. If you need help understanding a particular option, please let me know.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: I'd like to thank all the Experts for listening and answering our questions and wish you all good luck with improving support in IE for CSS and other web standards.
A: Thanks Fyrd! We all appreciate it.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: I'd like to thank you guys too... great chats, how often will these be? And also, please keep blogging and accepting feedback so IE 8 will be great.
A: Monthly! Thanks!

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Bye, Everyone! Thanks for attending! We'll have another chat next month...hope to see you then!

Jane[MSFT] (Expert):
Thanks for attending the chat session. This was fun. Good bye and good beta.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: (And btw, did you get the postcard I sent to Dean Hachamovich in December 07?)
A: I'll have to ask him. :)

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Bye!! thanks for the great questions!

Daniel (Moderator):
Thank you very much to all of our guests who joined us today as well as to our Experts for answering so many questions. Have a great day everyone!

Marc Silbey [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I'd like to thank all the Experts for listening and answering our questions and wish you all good luck with improving support in IE for CSS and other web standards.
A: Thanks for chatting with us. Talk to you in a month or so.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Repeating earlier question, how can you determine which plug-ins/ActveX are associated with which MIME types within IE?
A: In Windows Explorer, choose Tools / Folder Options / File Types. For image types which render inline and for which there is no registered file extension, you can look at the \HKCR\MIME\Database\Content Type\image\* keys. The "Image Filter CLSID" defines the handling object.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
'til next time-- Bye!

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