IE10 supports OpenType features

IE10 has added support for CSS OpenType markup, so you can use better type in IE10.

The test drive demonstrates how each feature works: mouse over the sample text to see it enhanced with OpenType goodness.

Typographer and Fontdeck co-founder Jon Tan is delighted by the development: "It’s wonderful to see the start of support for OpenType features coming to web fonts in IE10 (thanks, IE team)!

"At the end of last year, at Beyond Tellerrand in Dsseldorf, I talked about some of the expert subsets of stylistic alternates that can be added to sites in a modular way using Fontdeck.

"Later, in the intro to 8Faces #4, I also made a half prediction, half wish, that this year would be the year of OpenType on the Web, and this seems like a fantastic step towards that wish. Here’s to ever-better web typography in 2012!"

Designer Elliot Jay Stocks was keen to underline the significance of the development: "It's extremely exciting to see IE10 supporting OpenType features such as ligatures, swashes, numerals, and small caps. It's exciting when any browser advances typography on the web, but for a browser such as IE — often regarded by web designers as one holding back the web — this is a massive leap forward; for web designers, end users, and of course Microsoft themselves."

Hacker News has a discussion thread in which the new features are debated in detail.

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