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

That could be, but remember the browser wars of the past when Microsoft went with its own dogged HTML (sub)standards, which in turn caused all kinds of headaches for web designers. There was always a bunch of conditionals in HTML code for IE6 or IE7 to accommodate MS's own take on what HTML language standards should be. I can smell the same mess coming down with HTML5 if MS takes a running start with its own vision of it before W3C finalizes the official standard spec for everyone. As far as I'm concerned, MS should be an active participant at W3C, but it should also have the restraint to wait until the spec is finalized before going ahead with its own HTML5 tools and IDEs. Just sayin'.

This is one reason (among many others) why I am VERY hesitant about even thinking of starting any HTML5 -based projects anytime in the near future. I'm tired of writing IF-THEN-ELSE conditions in my HTML code just to play nice with early adopters or hard-headed corporations that try to ram their own take on specs down developers' throats.

For MS to start talking up HTML5 now is so premature that it is not even funny -- they are simply enamored with the next shiny object. Next thing you know people will start desperately looking for HTML5 -compatible functional IDE's (which do not exist at the current time) and dreaming of the next Lingua Franca or Esperanto that EVERYONE will speak and understand. Dream on, or as George W. Bush would say: "Ain't ga happen."