HTML 5 - The Evolving Web

The World Wide Web is an environment which will never cease to evolve and to create newer and newer possibilities and solutions for every imaginable need. Such an example is HTML5: the next generation of HyperText Markup Language.

This new version of markup language aims to be more flexible than its predecessor HTML 4 and to offer an alternative to plugins applications, such as Adobe Flash or Microsoft Silverlight.

The work on HTML 5 started in 2004, and according to estimations it will reach the W3C Recommendations at the end of 2010. Even so, some parts of the specifications are already implemented in browsers, such as Internet Explorer 8.

What HTML 5 brings in new is the XHTML specification which ceases to be published separately. Also, it makes light on how an incolmplete code needs to be interpreted, in such a way that all browsers will show the same thing on a page, even if that page contains some mistakes.

Also, HTML 5 allows the storing of offline information, which means that from your browser you can search through web pages even if they are offline. Google Gear already does this, but HTML 5 will embed this as a native option in the browser, helping reduce in this way the gap between desktop and Web.

The desired outcome is that in the future the browser will be used as a portal for applications, which will improve the browsing experience, by replacing the use of the desktop applications. Although all these sound great, HTML 5 will have a hard time to be recognized on the market as a standard format, due to the fact that companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Adobe will continue to invest in proprietary technologies.