W3C Aims for 2014 as the Launch Date for the HTML5 Standard

The W3C, the standard body that governs over all web technologies, is announcing May 2011 as the "Last Call" deadline for any additions or changes to the proposed HTML5 standard. After that, comes a long testing phase only after which it will become an actual standard, no sooner than 2014.

Listening to all the hype around the technology and its siblings like CSS3, SVG and so on, you'd think that HTML5 is poised to explode in usage any time now.

The World Wide Web Consortium, it seems, aims to calm the discussions. While the standard is basically done, there are still a few more years before it can be ratified.

Yet, at the same time, others are saying that HTML5 is a "living" standard, that continues to evolve over time, and is now ready for any challenge in the 'real' world of the web.

There's been plenty of hype and some controversy around the HTML5 standard. The proposed standard has been heralded as the future of the web, an open, non-proprietary technology used by all.

But the reality is that most of the people involved can't come to an agreement over some key aspects, the video tag comes to mind. Now it seems that there can't even be an understanding of what the HTML5 standard is or even it's a standard at all.

While W3C continues to work, slowly, towards ratification, the original creator of HTML5, WHATWG is saying that the HTML5 moniker has outlived its usefulness and that the specs are simply HTML and should be treated as such.

Also, since additions and changes are always made to it, there's no reason to push for a static, final HTML5 standard. Developers should refer to any current HTML5 draft for guide in how to build their apps and websites for best interoperability, the group believes.

Granted, browser makers have been moving forward regardless what the W3C believes, adding and tweaking support for HTML5 features. There's no reason to believe that everyone will wait for another three years and that browsers will restrict themselves to whatever features make it into HTML5 by May, so maybe WHATWG has a more realistic approach.