Look who has joined Microsoft's IE team

OK, so she's only a "contractor" and not a Red-Pill-popping full-timer. But standards maven Molly Holzschlag is now working on the Web Platform and Tools team (of which Internet Explorer is part).

IE has not been -- as even Microsoft officials have conceded -- the most standards-compliant browser out there. IE 7.0 made strides toward improving in the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) department. But IE 8.0 and 9.0 have nowhere to go but up.

In her new role, Holzschlag will help create resources for Web designers and developers, including folks working at Microsoft "as they work toward a more standards-oriented goal - no matter which tools and technologies are being used," Holzschlag blogged on the IE Team Blog. She also will be working with Microsoft, "as well as all browser and tools vendors," she said. "

It is my desire that persistence coupled with diplomacy will assist us all in moving to a time where interoperability becomes the heart of the Web again," Holzschlag added.