Web Devout tidings

This week, I was approached with job opportunities from both Mozilla and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer team. It turns out this is a tougher decision than I thought it would be.

Anyone who knows me knows what I think of Internet Explorer. Let me briefly summarize what, in my mind, are the two biggest problems with Internet Explorer as a product and what I feel are the primary sources for those problems:

First in my mind is standards support. Internet Explorer has by far the worst standards support of any major web browser, period. Anyone serious in web development knows this. Over time, Microsoft has been accused of things like not caring about standards and what have you. But I don’t think that’s really the core issue. I honestly believe that the IE developers fully intend to follow standards whenever they’re available. IE’s nonstandard event model wasn’t the result of deliberately deviating from the standard; there was no event model standard when IE added support. A lot of the so-called “nonstandard behavior” with CSS properties is the result of bugs and design flaws that the IE developers intend to fix. The main problem isn’t that they don’t care.

What I believe is the primary cause of IE’s currently miserable situation with standards support is the fact that Microsoft disbanded the platform development team back in 2001, and thus, aside from security updates, IE layout engine development was completely abandoned for five years. Five years. Half a decade. Roughly half of Internet Explorer’s entire life to date was spent sitting idle. IE 6 wasn’t a bad browser when it first came out, but other browsers have now had twice the time IE had to add standards support, fix bugs, and generally snazz up their engines. Internet Explorer was simply neglected for too long.

The second main problem with Internet Explorer as a product is its security record. Every piece of software as complex as a web browser will have plenty of security problems. And naturally, if you have 80% or higher market share, there will be lots of people trying to pick apart your browser piece by piece. But this isn’t the main problem.

The main problem with IE’s security is the security response process. Internet Explorer simply takes too long to fix its vulnerabilities, and it leaves so many vulnerabilities unfixed. Internet Explorer has taken on average several times as long as Firefox to patch its known vulnerabilities. We just passed the fourth Patch Tuesday of the year, yet according to Secunia, 78% of IE 7’s known vulnerabilities are still unfixed. That isn’t even counting the several-year-old IE 6 vulnerabilities that were never fixed and probably still exist in IE 7. Microsoft says that this is all due to their quality assurance process, but I dunno… I’ve heard about as many cases of IE patch problems as Firefox patch problems. Too many issues are swept under the rug. It’s another case of neglect.

So here I am with an opportunity to help do something about this. I have a chance to help give IE attention where it needs it. Internet Explorer is used by around 75% to 80% of the Internet population. It is, in many or most cases, the single immediate factor holding back professional web developers from doing their jobs as quickly, correctly, and efficiently as they otherwise could.

Meanwhile, I may also have the opportunity to work for Mozilla. Mozilla is an entirely different situation. They have this groundwork laid out. They have an engine that is relatively very well in line with the standards. I have little doubt that the Gecko engine code is much more consistent, well-structured, and mature than the Trident code in Internet Explorer. Mozilla isn’t struggling to correct lots of broken foundation; it’s working to perfect its well-written engine and to develop the new groundwork for future standards.

Working with Internet Explorer would be working to bring a dated but important engine into the present, while working with Mozilla would be working to lead a modern but not-quite-as-prominent engine into the future. Both are very important tasks and both are tasks which I would much like to be a part of. But alas, there is only one of me, and I have to make a choice. I feel like I would better enjoy the work and atmosphere at Mozilla, but I might be able to drive a bigger near-future impact on the Web by working with Internet Explorer. If, in the end, both options are available to me, what should I do?