HTML5. That awe inspiring idea that so far is only useful for cool looking demos. Perhaps it is just me, but I think that it is time to start using HTML5/CSS3/etc… And you say, “But, what about all the people running a browser that doesn’t support it!” Well, I never said it was time to start using it on the web now did I?

Most of the real purpose behind HTML5 is to make web applications more like desktop applications. For example for the first time you can use basic HTML to store data. So why not build a desktop application out of it? I know, I know there are so many other languages to build a desktop application out of that are so much better for it, but if you want an environment where you can try out some of the really cool HTML5 stuff, build a “desktop application” and then tell people to run it inside of Chrome or Firefox, or any other HTML5 browser you can make it work in.

Google has already started moving in this direction with the whole Chrome OS they are working on. I am sure they are building some HTML5 based applications right now, perhaps even migrating stuff like Picasa to it. As a web programmer you may not even really know a good desktop language, so find an application you want to build and try the stuff out. Google is using Chrome to create a new platform. A platform that can run the same application on Windows, Linux, Mac, iPhone, Android, WebOS, etc… You get the point. An HTML5 application can run anywhere because someone has already done the hard work of porting the browser.

In a way it is what Java claims to be, and never was very good at: being a cross-platform language. In this case however we have a standard, and anyone can build a browser for it. Firefox, Chrome, and Safari are at the forefront. Unlike with Java where when Sun Microsystems faltered then Java did, HTML5 will stay strong because we have 3+ groups trying to make sure it succeeds well. Perhaps one or two will fail, but not all? HTML5 can be used now… on the desktop.