HTML5 -- A New Hope 

In the mid 1990s, the "browser wars" began. It is still ongoing, and each release brings smaller, faster Javascript runtimes. The clear winner in this battle is the consumer. Advances such as tabbed browsing and gestures are things that we take for granted today. This was not the case a mere 5 years ago. Once an idea sticks, each new browser has to have it to compete.

The browser wars started as an attempt to lock consumers into a particular platform or operating system. The same can be said for all the app stores springing up. Each new app helps glue a user to their device or PC.  Additionally, a similar mentality occurs when thinking of migrating data off Oracle or SQL Server. At a certain point, the effort to move will not overcome the mass to move.

Expect the app stores to grow.

However, there is a ray of hope and it's an exciting one: HTML5. For a standard just out the gate, it may be destined to be the paradigm that standard applications and interactive software will aspire to be. It can compete directly with Adobe and Silverlight. In fact, Microsoft has made overtones that Silverlight and WPF are heading for the junk heap. Times, they are a changing. Again.

And is this good news? If HTML5 gets a strong footing, these apps will be portable, running identically on Apple, Microsoft or Android products. IT departments may not need to be in such a reactionary mode when the CIO appears with their latest holiday electronics to integrate with the enterprise. Already the biggest web service providers are adopting to the standard.

Additionally, the goal for manufacturers will be to once again create faster parsing engines, better through-put and faster content streaming. And all display elements will be completely interactive.

But wait.  It's not all sunshine. For a decade now, developers have used tacked-on libraries, extending HTML4 to achieve the same interactive results. They have been far from perfect, demanding proprietary services to host them. For example, Google Apps needs a servlet engine and ASPX needs IIS with the .NET Framework. The only code common to both is Javascript validating input.

The migration of web applications has begun and it will take time. HTML5 is an attractive technology with the potential to fix a lot of issues with current web and user interactions. It may be a new hope for consumers locked to a platform.