Microsoft, together with companies like Apple, Google, Firefox, and others, announced Interop 2024, a continuation of their joint effort to make modern browsers better and capable of delivering a consistent user experience across platforms. Their goal is to "reach a state where each technology works the same in every browser." Whether you use Edge, Firefox, or Safari, all websites should deliver the same expected experience and features on all supported operating systems.
Initially initially announced in 2021 and dubbed Compat 2021, the project focused on cross-browser web compatibility. In 2022, the companies launched Interop 2022 for browser interoperability to acknowledge developer pain points and make the web platform "more pleasant to work with." Together, Microsoft, Google, and other companies implemented numerous improvements to the web platform, and now they are ready to continue their joint venture.
This year, the Interop project focuses on several areas, such as layouts, CSS architecture, HTML elements, and more. Microsoft says Compat and Interop significantly reduced the number of browser inconsistencies when using flexboxes and grids, but some differences still exist. Therefore, Interop 2024 participants decided to make layouts one of their focus areas this year. There will be additional improvements for CSS nesting to ensure it works in the same way across browsers and Popover API in HTML that lets developers display content on top of other elements.
Besides the main focus areas, Interop 2024 will improve accessibility, custom properties, font size, pointer events, scrollbar styling, text directionality, and more. Every participant has already published their detailed blog posts detailing what is coming with Interop 2024. Here are the links if you want to learn more: Apple, Bocoup, Google, Firefox, Igalia, and Microsoft.
Like the previous two years, everyone is welcome to check how each mainstream browser scores in Interop 2024 tests using the official Interop Dashboard.