In preparing for the web development course I'm teaching this semester, I've had to delve back into the world of CSS hacks. Most recently, I was looking at how to use the object tag in an document that validates as XHTML Strict, something which requires a CSS hack to work properly across major browers.

That got me to thinking: what's going to happen if/when MS fixes the bug in IE that allows what is apparently referred to as the Star-HTML hack from working? And what if the bugs that allow the hacks are fixed, but the bugs that made the hacks necessary are not? Then what are you going to do?

Well, it looks like that is what's going to happen in IE7. While there does seem to be some confusion about whether or not the original bugs are going away, CSS hacks definately are.

I don't think web developers who use CSS hacks can complain about this. They (hopefully) knew the risks when they used this approach, knew that one day they would have to face the consequences. That day appears to be approaching fast. The question is: will they charge their clients for the work?