Does Googlebot read XHTML 1.0?

Evidence suggests Googlebot has problems

[BicyclingGuitarist]

A year and a half ago, after I switched my code from HTML 4.0 Transitional to XHTML 1.0 Strict, Google dropped the dozens of pages it had listed before. It hasn't listed my pages directly since then, though it does list other peoples' pages that are about my site.

The pages are served as text/html according to the rules of Appendix C for backwards compatibility. Most of the pages are stricter than strict, ultra validated XHTML 1.0 code. Yet when Googlebot does visit, my server log shows an error 406. The bots of other search engines have no difficulty.

[BicyclingGuitarist]

Mystery solved, sort of. It is the consensus of many, many experts and professionals that the problem is with the server configuration of my host's i.s.p., and the apparent inability of its tech to learn how to do it properly. I will be switching hosts a.s.a.p.