I don't think M$ will EVER actually TRY to be css compliant. They do everything they can to ensure everyone HAS to stay with them for things to work. Microsoft just wants to make themselves the standard, that's all. I just use a Mac
As far as designing/coding for IE, it's not usually a big deal. I usually design stuff for FF (because it actually does what it's told) and then when I just assume I'll have to go back and tweak things to make it decent on IE. Firefox is the best, but like it or not, IE is still 70% of the market.
But if you think IE is bad on the PC - just try out IE for MAC - that is the largest pile of crap I've ever seen in my LIFE!!!