Environment

IE 6.0.2900.2180.xpsp_sp2_gdr.080814-1233

FF 2.0.0.32

Opera 9.62

Example

jQuery(document).ready(function() {

var html = '';

html += '<form class="the-form">';

html += 'silly text';

html += '<img class="silly-img" src="potato.jpg"/>';

html += '</form>';

create an unattached dom wrapped inside a jquery

var dom = $(document.createElement('div')).html(html);

var form = dom.find('.the-form');

As I read the documentation the output from the use of ':first' and 'first-child' selectors,

should be identical in the case of a trivial (single-element) selection set

var firstElem = form.children(':first'); ok, returns silly-img

var firstNode = form.contents(':first'); ok, returns 'silly text'

firstElem = form.children(':first-child'); ok, returns silly-img

firstNode = form.contents(':first-child'); // fail, returns silly-img. should return 'silly text'

}