XHTML and Microsoft Internet Explorer

[jones54]

Hi,

I have just started looking into XHTML recently and I am getting mixed messages from different web sites about Microsoft Internet Explorer's support for XHTML.

Could anybody please point me in the direction of something definitive?

Does IE display XHTML pages properly?
- Any issues with any particular versions of IE?
Or is XHTML just a bad idea when using Microsoft Internet Explorer?

Any ideas / suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks

 

[BillyRayPreachersSon]

It works fine - just make sure that:

1. You have a complete and valid DOCTYPE, and
2. You DO NOT have the "<xml..." line at the top - as this will cause IE to invalidate teh DOCTYPE.

Hope this helps,
Dan




Coedit Limited - Delivering standards compliant, accessible web solutions

[tt]Dan's Page [blue]@[/blue] Code Couch

http://www.codecouch.com/dan/

[/tt]

 

[ChrisHunt]

It depends if you serve up your XHTML properly.

If you deliver it, as you technically should, with a MIME type of [tt]application/xhtml+xml[/tt], IE will not understand it and will display it as an XML document instead of rendering it as a web page.

If you use a MIME type of [tt]text/html[/tt], IE will render it OK, but you're technically serving up slightly invalid HTML rather than XHTML. See

http://hixie.ch/advocacy/xhtml

for why this is a bad idea.

Personally, I've gone back to HTML 4.01 for all my new sites. Whilst there might be benefits in XHTML one day, there's nothing much to be gained from it in 2006.

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd

 

[Foamcow]

Whilst there might be benefits in XHTML one day, there's nothing much to be gained from it in 2006.

Except that the site is already XHTML when the benefits become apparent ;-)
And...

It makes you code more tightly.

<honk>*:O)</honk>
Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web site design in Cheltenham and Gloucester
Earl & Thompson Marketing - Marketing Agency Services in Gloucesterhire

 

[ChrisHunt]

When there are benefits to be gained, I'll convert. It's not difficult to automate the conversion of valid HTML to valid XHTML. XHTML is certainly a little more verbose, whether that makes it "tighter", and whether there's anything to be gained by anybody from this supposed tightness is open to question IMO.

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd