is quirks mode legit?

Question

I was on vacation without access to my good friend Internet Explorer, and I threw together a pretty complete web app. When I got home, I was surprised and encouraged to see that my site was working in IE... until I threw in any sort of valid doctype. I know it isn't best practice to throw browsers into quirks mode, or it wouldn't be called quirks mode, but I guess my question is... what are the practical ramifications of having a 'quirks mode' site? Is it necessary or even worth it to painstakingly slave away to correct the issues of which I am yet unaware, or can I leave it as is, functioning cross browser? Thanks.

Answer 1

If your site renders wrong in standards mode, but correct in quirks mode, chances are it's errornous. Some current browsers may fix your mistakes even in standard mode, but you have no idea about what future browsers will do with it. With standards mode, you can be absolutely sure that a valid site that looks fine in modern browsers will show up correctly.