Microsoft joins the HTML 5 discussion

Last month we discussed the current state of HTML 5, particularly regarding its video component. Not only were the major browser makers, Mozilla, Google, Apple, and Opera, all duking it out over what should be considered standard, but the largest browser maker, Microsoft, had barely contributed to the debate at all.

Now Microsoft has begun to open up to the HTML 5 development mailing list, indicating that they are interested in joining the discussion. Their latest browser, Internet Explorer 8, includes some HTML 5 features, although it is far behind Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, and Opera. Microsoft clearly wants to be involved now, a move that more than likely is the result of website owners embracing HTML 5 even in its development state and Google’s willingness to adopt it, with its huge Web presence.

HTML or hypertext markup language, is the technical language of the World Wide Web. It is standardized by the World Wide Web Consortium or W3C. Much of the HTML 5 development, however, has come from an outside organization called Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG), which the major browser makers established as a reaction to their disappointment with XHTML 2.0. There has been a highly publicized debate about embedded video standards, whether to use Ogg Theora or H.264. Until now, Microsoft has been largely silent.
Source: ZDNet Asia