HTML5 at last call for comments, near finished
updated 04:15 pm EDT, Fri May 20, 2011
Objections have been raised, however
HTML5 community leader Shelley reports that members of the W3C, the international standards body for the Web, are being polled about the proposed new HTML5 standard. If no formal objections are raised before Monday, May 22, then HTML5 would enter "Last Call" status. It could become a standard in 2012.
Although not a officially a standard, HTML5 is already being used. Browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari all support some of HTML5 standard. Motorola invested in Moblyng, a game developer using it instead of Flash. Microsoft shifted focus from its own Silverlight to HTML5 as the primary development platform for Windows Phone 7.
Standards bodies are political and vested interests often conflict. Shelly has reported in an update that objections have now been made.
HTML4, the current standard was adopted in 1997. Work on HTML5 began in 2004.
