CODEWITHSUNDEEP
htmlcross-browserdoctypesemantic-markup
ahsteele
ahsteele

Reputation: 26514

In the summer of 2010 is it time to start using HTML5?

I created this question as community wiki in the hope that it and its answers will be edited as the situation with HTML5 changes.

Time to use HTML5?

This question gets trotted out about once a year, so I might be beating a dead horse, but is it finally time (in the summer of 2010) to use HTML5 when developing a brand new web site?

Related HTML5 Questions on Stack Overflow

Edit as a follow on

Is it a mixed bag: i.e. use these tags safely but stay away from x, y, z?

Upvotes: 7

Views: 357

Answers (8)

GrandmasterB
GrandmasterB

Reputation: 3455

I think you'd probably get better feedback if you clarified what you mean by 'use html5'. That covers a lot of different functionality, some of it not even finalized. Are you planning on using it all... or just certain pieces (like the tag?) Whether its a good idea to use it now is going to depend on what pieces of HTML5 you are talking about.

Upvotes: 2

Ed Schembor
Ed Schembor

Reputation: 8560

According to readwriteweb, as of May 2010, 46% of users use browsers with html5 support. So, maybe we are over 50% now. But it really comes down to your audience - if you are targetting the general population, I would say it's a definitely too early. But if you are targetting a more tech-savvy audience, maybe not. Of course, degrade as gracefully as possible.

Link: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/46_of_internet_users_ready_for_html5.php

EDIT: Yes, the study mentioned in the readwriteweb reference was done by Chitika, and was based on HTML 5 video support. Chrome, Safari 3 and up, and Firefox 3.5 and up were consider "HTML 5".

Upvotes: 0

Barlow Tucker
Barlow Tucker

Reputation: 6529

I wish! Wouldn't that be great! I guess if you have a site that has a high enough demand that people will upgrade their browsers then go for it. It seems like people are more attached to their old browsers than super glue is to fingers.

Upvotes: 0

Manius
Manius

Reputation: 3644

Not until 2022 (if they stay on schedule).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5#cite_note-techrepublicref-8

Regarding the "When can I use" link posted by Sarfraz - wow, that's an awful lot of extra work, waste of time, and consideration that could all be avoided if you just drop HTML5 and use Silverlight, Flex, or JavaFX. Any virtual machine based solution is going to beat fighting an endless battle with browser wars.

Upvotes: 1

Sarfraz
Sarfraz

Reputation: 382879

We are far far away, see:

When can i use...

But you can dive into it by following:

for the moment :)

Upvotes: 6

Johan
Johan

Reputation: 5063

Yes, it's time! By two reasons:

  1. It already works
  2. It speeds up development of HTML5 compatibility

Use it with caution though! Using the simplified doctype and the new semantic markup tags will not hurt, but just do good. Using canvas and the media tags with no fallback might be a couple of years too early.

Upvotes: 0

Ned Batchelder
Ned Batchelder

Reputation: 376052

It depends what you mean by HTML 5. You can use the doctype now, and many of the features are backward-compatible, so you can use them now and they will fallback gracefully. Other tags just won't work, and so you have to be more judicious.

Upvotes: 1

Kirk Woll
Kirk Woll

Reputation: 77616

Is your site ready to abandon half the internet?

Upvotes: 0

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