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FUDBusters

June 26, 2003
By Lori MacVittie

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When: May 7, 2003

What: Speculation on the impact of Microsoft's unofficial announcement that it would terminate Internet Explorer as a standalone application.

FUDFactor: With IE only appearing as an embedded component within Windows, developers will be forced to adopt Microsoft-centric Web standards.

FUDBust: Microsoft's termination of IE as a standalone app has no effect on cross-platform development or Web standards. Developers should write to Web standards as detailed by the World Wide Web Consortium, not to Microsoft's tools or documentation.

This decision is nothing more than an affirmation by Microsoft that it has tied IE to the OS, as well as proof that the antitrust settlement has no teeth.

Will the decision affect Windows users who want to run another browser? It depends on whether Microsoft removes a user's ability to designate other applications as file handlers for MIME types typically handled by IE. If you ask me, this is just another check mark on my list of reasons I don't run Microsoft software.

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