I don't think they want to remain incompatible anymore. This has been true for a long time, but you have to look closely at IE8 to see the signals. They're real

I don't think they want to remain incompatible anymore. This has been true for a long time, but you have to look closely at IE8 to see the signals. They're really trying hard to change. I suspect there are some execs who are still not so eager to support open standards, but the IE devs are very willing to change for good.