...eased the reconciliation so that they now operate simultaneously — the first more informally, the latter with more careful handling of intellectual property concerns.
Ultimately, however, HTML carried the day. What began with interest in sophisticated websites such as eBay blossomed with the arrival of Ajax, which used JavaScript to build even better web-based applications.
"When Gmail, Google Maps and Ajax came along, it became clear we needed a new set of technologies that made it easier to make those kinds of applications," the W3C's Smith said.
The transition culminated with the W3C's news last week of XHTML 2's demise.
HTML 5: no walk in the park
Although the W3C-WHATWG dust has mostly settled, the standard is far from finished and looks a long way off.
The present approach involves give and take between browser makers trying out new features and the standards group codifying them. Features cannot make it to the W3C's "final recommendation" until at least two browsers support compatibly, according to Smith.
In practice, this means adventurous web developers who choose to support new technologies are blessing them in effect, even though the technology could well change.
And HTML 5 elements have come from all over. Canvas, which involves 2D graphics, began with Apple's Safari and has since won over Opera, Firefox and Google Chrome. ContentEditable, which allows web pages to be edited in place, came from Microsoft. Google is working on a faster communication feature called Web Sockets. Programmers for WebKit, the open source project underlying Safari
"The speed of the web is continuing to pick up in general," said IE's Barzdukas. HTML 5 feature support figures prominently in browser sales pitches from Google
However, actual standardisation remains a distant goal. Mozilla's Ranganathan hopes for drafts of some HTML 5 elements this year, with full specification by 2010.
The built-in HTML 5 video situation is illustrative of the predicament. Only last week Hickson, HTML 5's editor and now a Google employee, said browser makers cannot agree on whether to support the patent-free Ogg Theora format, preferred by Opera and Mozilla, or the commercially popular H.264 format, preferred by Google and Apple. The upshot for now is that HTML 5 is trying to standardise video, although it will not specify which format will be used.
However, the pace of HTML 5 standardisation is crucial, given the importance Microsoft places on supporting actual standards and its commanding market share.
"The support of ratified standards [web developers] use is something that we are extremely supportive of," Barzdukas said. "In some cases, it can be premature to start claiming support for standards that are not yet standards."
