RE: Bad News on IE6 XML Support

[Max Dunn <maxdunn@siliconpublishing.com>]

So he should shut down http://www.bayes.co.uk/xml/ ?

I don't understand what you are saying about "a small percentage of
immaculately configured machines"?  Isn't 99% of what people use for
browsers today far less "fat" than what is required for client-side
XSLT?

I have noticed a ton of CSS on the Internet.  Quite common amongst
blogs, for example.  Some even go so far as to detect what form of
browser you're using and send appropriate content.

Of course only time (and the actions of large companies such as AOL and
Microsoft) will tell, but I think there is fantastic potential for
client-side XSLT and it will be like other "modern" technologies such as
JavaScript (or do you use that yet?): detect whether they have it, and
if so, take advantage of it, within the limits of their implementation.


The closer to compliance with a spec most implementations are the better
for everybody, but being ready for multiple bad implementations is
certainly nothing new in coding for the web.  XSLT will flourish on the
client, now that there are at least two attempts at it out there.

Max
http://www.siliconpublishing.com

-----Original Message-----
From: XML Everywhere [mailto:host@xmleverywhere.com] 
Sent: Friday, September 07, 2001 10:51 PM
To: xml-dev
Subject: Re: Bad News on IE6 XML Support


Client-side XSL?

What are you smoking?

XSL is fat client technology. 
It will only work on a very small
percentage of immaculately configured
machines.  In other words, almost NONE.
Don't expect the browser vendors
to fix this either.  HTML will be replaced
by full motion video before that happens
(i.e., NEVER).

The last thing I want to see on a website
is "this page best viewed with Opera
and Saxon" or some nonsense like that.  Chances
are your content isn't vital enough to 
justify installing new software.  I'll just
click somewhere else, thank you.  Doubtful I am
unique in that respect.

MAYBE there is a dumbed-down version of
CSS that works on all browsers on all
platforms.  Maybe.  But there
is no version of XSL that even comes close.
The only display technology that has
nearly as much "reach" as HTML 3.0 is Flash.

XSLT is great.  Just don't do it on the client.
Transform your XML on the server.
Otherwise, you and your visitors are in 
for a lot of broken pages.  Don't wait for
IE 10 to have a "compliant" processor,
whatever that is.  Like CSS,
XSLT will forever be a moving target. 

Learn from the problems of Java on the
client and stick with HTML 3 and 
(perhaps) Flash.