[oneeyedpigeon]

It also converts e.g. b to strong.

[mercer]

That doesn't sound right.

By all means correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall learning that there's a semantic difference between b/strong (as well as i/em).

[Mtinie]

This probably isn't the same source that your'e thinking of, but here's a well-considered answer on SO to the question "Why are the <b> and <i> tags deprecated?".

https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/a/255588

[mercer]

Thanks!