In a press statement released yesterday, Microsoft announced that the next version of its Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 8.0. will render the content of the Web pages by using methods that give top priority to Web standards interoperability.

Microsoft explained that Internet Explorer 8.0 includes three rendering modes: one that is using the current web standards, a second one that reflects Microsoft’s implementation of Web standards at the time of the release of Internet Explorer 7 in 2006 and a third one based on rendering methods dating back to the early Web. By default, the first mode of rendering will be enabled in Internet Explorer.

In the early phases of the development of Internet Explorer, Microsoft intended to make the second one (IE 7 mode) the default mode in the browser, claiming that it would offer a better backwards-compatibility with existing Web sites and applications.

Now, Ray Ozzie explained that by using the Web standard mode, the company is trying to promote interoperability.

“This is obviously a complex issue, with important considerations on both sides,” Ozzie said. “On one hand, there are literally billions of Web pages designed to render on previous browser versions, including many sites that are no longer actively managed. On the other hand, there is a concrete benefit to Web designers if all vendors give priority to interoperability around commonly accepted standards as they evolve. After weighing these very legitimate concerns, we have decided to give top priority to support for these new Web standards,” Ozzie said.

But there may also be another reason why Microsoft decided to promote the Web standards. “While we do not believe there are currently any legal requirements that would dictate which rendering mode must be chosen as the default for a given browser, this step clearly removes this question as a potential legal and regulatory issue,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft senior vice president and general counsel.

Last years, Opera Software, the makers of Opera browser, filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Microsoft in the EU courts, accusing the Redmond company of abusing its dominant position by selling its Windows operating system in combination with its Internet Explorer (IE) browser. Opera complaints also target Microsoft’s corruption of Web standards, referring to a practice where Microsoft either fails to implement industry accepted open standards or implements them in a manner that is not faithful to the standard by adding undisclosed proprietary extensions.

Although Microsoft did not announce any roadmap for its Internet Explorer 8.0, it said that the first beta version will be released before the end of the first half of this year.

Meanwhile, Mozilla Corp. recently announced the release of a beta version of Firefox 3, bringing new features and enhanced performance to what already is a successful browser, with an increasing popularity and often preferred to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.