Is filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.DropS

Question

Is the filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.DropShadow(OffX="x", OffY="y", Color="color") method a viable replacement for the text-shadow: attribute in non-IE browsers?

Answer 1

Yes, they are roughly equivalent, per what Alex said. BUT - the IE filter renders in a hideously ugly way.

If text shadow is necessary (I just let IE go without for the most part, but sometimes it's needed), one method I found was to literally duplicate the desired element, position it under the target element, then apply the blur filter to the duplicate, as it renders much nicer.

For example, if you have jquery, and want to target H2's:

$("h2").each(function(){
    var h2_tx_Shadow = $(this).html();
    $(this).append("<span class='shadow_h2'>"+h2_tx_Shadow+"</span>");
});

Then in CSS:

span.shadow_h2 {
position:absolute; top:0px; left:0px; z-index:-1;
filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Blur(PixelRadius='2',MakeShadow='true',ShadowOpacity='0.40');
}

I wish I could find the thread where I found this idea - it may have even been on SO - so, apologies to the original person who came up with this!

Answer 2

Yes, but they are not exactly the same.

I don't believe you can do multiple text shadows with the proprietary IE method.