Aiming to demonstrate that its commitment to interoperability Microsoft said Monday that it is shifting its plans for the next version of Internet Explorer to make the program more friendly to Web standards. The software maker said that a planned standards compatibility mode will now be the default rendering engine when IE8 makes its debut. Now IE will finally be able to render the Acid2 browser test correctly. "We think that acting in accordance with principles is important, and IE8's default is a demonstration of the interoperability principles in action," IE general manager Dean Hachamovitch said in a blog posting. With IE8, Microsoft plans to have three rendering modes: the new standards-compliant mode, the IE7 rendering engine, as well as an option for displaying older Web sites. Because of the default shift, Web sites that want IE8 to use its IE7 engine will have to add a tag to their site's code. Microsoft hasn't said when the final version will be out, but a beta version of the browser is due out in the first half of the year.