Re: We expect this change to improve compatibility...
It does not work like that.
No, it certainly doesn't ... but ...
... browsers have to implement many standards that are independent of each other ...
Yes, they do, and they could be required to advertise their support for each of those standards independently. I wasn't suggesting a one-size-fits-all approach to versioning.
Indeed, a browser might not implement some standards at all, and servers would then be at liberty to refuse to deliver the content, to deliver partial content, or to render the page in a different way (if they could be bothered).
... much as they do at the moment, but based on clear and unambiguous information about the browser's actual (claimed) capabilities rather than a bit of guesswork based on a (possibly falsified) User-Agent string.
It is much more complicated than meets the eye.
That depends how attuned your eyes are.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
