Do UTF-8 encoded HTML documents ususally start with a BOM?

Question

For a Rich Text (RTF) to HTML / XHTML converter I am writing, which generates UTF-8 encoded HTML pages, I consider to add the option to include a BOM.

But should the generation of a BOM be disabled or enabled by default for UTF-8 encoded HTML documents? If the majority of web pages are delivered without BOM, I would set the default generator configuration to 'no BOM'.

Answer 1

It is not usual and can cause problems.

I would recommend disabling it by default.