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Web design in the raw, textual sense has stagnated. Microsofts Internet Explorer, the monopoly power holder on the web, hasnt been updated in years. Competing web browsers like Safari on OS X, Mozilla, Firebird (now Firefox Ed) and Opera have broader support for CSS than IE, and continue to update their technology to accommodate more features of the CSS spec. [For an example of this, see http://whatdoiknow.org/other/shadow.html for a demo of the text-shadow CSS2 attribute] But, the advancement of textual content on the web depends on the end user upgrading their technology, and even if Microsoft released an updated IE tomorrow, it would be years before enough people used the browser for web designers to comfortably deploy modern techniques on a public web site.

So, for now, designers are stuck on the current CSS specification (which isnt even fully supported by every browser either), and a paltry selection of system fonts to choose from. Microsoft made an incredible contribution to the web, and end-user experiences, by offering the typefaces Verdana and Georgia for free. I couldnt imagine designing a web site without them. But, the typefaces which are now no longer available for download, and can only be installed in OS X by installing Internet Explorer are the property of Microsoft. The web depends on them. Without Verdana and Georgia, we would be reading everything set in Arial and Times, which would be a horrible experience to say the least.

I personally think one of the fastest ways to push web typography forward would be more open-source, free typefaces. The challenge is figuring out a way to get them on end-users machines, and we all know how quick some people are to download anything, let alone install. But, more typefaces would offer designers much greater freedom in their design, without relying on fancy CSS attributes or browser support.

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