>XML5 has it, local cursors, that is, and now that MS appears to be shifting its ever so restless gaze away from Silverlight and towards XML5 (will this NEVER end?!?!) we have the promise of getting back at least some of the productivity and ease of use that Fox has had since, oh, early 80's. You'll probably have to wait until 2022 to start using it, though, because that's when W3C estimates the final XML5 specs to be nailed down.

No, it'll be way earlier than that. MS is hot to trot with ????5 because the specs are nascent. By being early to the game they see a chance to influence either the specs themselves, or their implementations - for standards that pretty much everyone agrees will need to be supported on all platforms, even walled gardens like Apple.

I think a reasonable analogy is the development of 802.11n wireless networking equipment. So-called "draft-N" gear was available for years before the final spec was officially approved. I imagine MS is hard at work on draft-5 dev tools, browsers etc.

In the final analysis, MS has always been about de facto rather than de jure.