Redmond, Washington — While it is striving arduously at creating the next iteration of Internet Explorer, the Redmond software maker, Microsoft has jumped on to join a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Scalable Vector Graphics bandwagon, IE senior program manager Patrick Dengler has blogged.
Essentially, the Redmond company wishes to be intimately involved in the evolution of XML graphics for the web. The company said it plans on developing future versions of the W3C’s scalable vector graphics (SVG) recommendation, currently at version 1.1.
The move came as “part of Microsoft’’ continued commitment to interoperability and standards support, revealed Dengler. “We are excited to take part in ensuring future versions of the SVG spec will meet the needs of developers and end users.”
This is just exactly why the software giant presented a request to be accepted as one of the members of the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Working Group of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
Dengler wrote in a brief statement Microsoft recognizes vector graphics are an important component of the “next-generation web platform” and the company’s decision to join is evident of its commitment to participating in the standards process around that.
The nonprofit W3C’s SVG recommendation is a document that outlines two-dimensional graphics processing using XML. The technology can be used for Web graphics, animation and user interfaces.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is conceived to function as an international community which works in close collaboration with members (third-party companies and organizations), as well as the public, in order to catalyze the development and evolution of Web standards. Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is a format supported by W3C, with the SVG 1.1 and SVG Mobile Profiles web standards being W3C recommendations.
Reaction was swift and overwhelming. Commentators responding to Dengler’s post overwhelmingly welcomed Microsoft’s move, with people hoping it will lead to SVG support in IE 9.
This from a commenter called “modgen” was typical: “Great news if this leads to SVG support in IE sometime in the not too distant future. Long overdue, in my opinion.”
In the past, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer has been isolated as the one Web browser not following the W3C’s SVG recommendation. Web pioneer Tim Berners-Lee suggested that Microsoft was “slow” in supporting that effort, according to an Associated Press story published in 2008. Currently, IE does not provide native SVG support but instead relies on browser add-ons for scalable vector graphics.