Yes! Microsoft have changed their mind on default rendering for IE 8. Sweet.
In light of the Interoperability Principles, as well as feedback from the community, we’re choosing differently. Now, IE8 will show pages requesting “Standards” mode in IE8’s Standards mode. Developers who want their pages shown using IE8’s “IE7 Standards mode” will need to request that explicitly.—Microsoft’s Interoperability Principles and IE8