I don’t have time at the moment to write anything in-depth on the recent decision of the W3C to let the charter for the XHTML2 working group expire. Instead, I’m going to list several interesting and/or relevant writings others have done, as both bookmarking for a future story, and for your edification.
- The W3C FAQ on the announcement
- XHTML2 vs HTML5 vs Accessibility
- An Unofficial Q & A about the Discontinuation of the XHTML2 WG. Note if the page loads oddly, Henri is using font-face, and I believe the fonts are loading slowly. Also, in my opinion, there are several misrepresentations and omissions.
- Manu Sporny clarifies the omissions in Henri’s document in the RDFa in XHTML email group.
- Zeldman: XHTML DOA WTF
- Zeldman: In Defense of Web Developers
- XHTML2 language dumped in favor of HTML5 from the San Francisco Chronicle
- XHTML2 Dies a lonely death Makes room for HTML5 from Wired
- From one of the XHTML creators: W3C, you ignorant slut, winning my award for best article title on the topic
- HTML 5 + XML = XHTML 5 from the new HTML5 Doctor web site
I’ll probably add to this list over time.
update I have just filed my first formal objection with the W3C about the philosophy of one vote/one veto for the major browser vendors over any aspect of the HTML 5 specification.
What the one vote/one veto decision principle means is that if a company, such as Microsoft, states it will not implement, say, SVG in HTML, the Canvas element, or any other aspect of HTML 5— up to and including the entire HTML 5 specification — that it will be pulled from the HTML 5 specification. No discussion among the members of the HTML WG would be allowed to override this decision.
This is what replaces work on XHTML2. This is the future of your web.