History
The Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) began work on the new standard in 2004. At that time, HTML 4.01 had not been updated since 2000, and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was focusing future developments on XHTML 2.0. In 2009, the W3C allowed the XHTML 2.0 Working Group's charter to expire and decided not to renew it. W3C and WHATWG are currently working together on the development of HTML5.
While HTML5 is often compared to Flash, the two technologies are very different. Both include features for playing audio and video within web pages, and for using Scalable Vector Graphics. HTML5 on its own cannot be used for animation and interactivity - it must be supplemented with CSS3 or Javascript. There are many Flash capabilities that have no direct counterpart in HTML5. See Comparison of HTML5 and Flash.
Although HTML5 has been well known among web developers for years, it became the topic of mainstream media around April 2010 after Apple Inc's then-CEO Steve Jobs issued a public letter titled "Thoughts on Flash" where he concludes that " Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of web content" and that "new open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win". This sparked a debate in web development circles where some suggested that while HTML5 provides enhanced functionality, developers must consider the varying browser support of the different parts of the standard as well as other functionality differences between HTML5 and Flash. In early November 2011 Adobe announced that it will discontinue development of Flash for mobile devices and reorient its efforts in developing tools utilizing HTML 5.
Read more about this topic: HTML5
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