A lot of us developers are looking forward to seeing HTML 5 supported across a multitude of browsers. Currently though there is only limited support for some HTML 5 elements in some browsers, the ones leading the pack are Opera, Mozilla FF 3.5, and Safari. I am not going to get into the technicalities of HTML 5, frankly I think there are plenty of people out there who have done and will continue to do a far better job at it. I do however want to share why I am looking forward to it.
Thinking about HTML 5 gets me a bit excited. I recall how I felt when I first started jumping into and learning HTML, years back, all the new and neat little things that make it all work. HTML 5 looks like it will make creating a little easier, and more enjoyable.
Structural Elements
HTML 5 has some pretty neat structural elements. <header>, <footer>, <article>, <section>, <nav>, and <aside>. These soon to replace some <div> elements used for structure, I am looking forward to this since it will make our markup even more semantic. Being able to toss our header into an actual <header> element instead of a <div> with an id or class attribute assigned. This just makes more sense and hopefully will reduce some dev time, a few less keystrokes are welcome 
Some Cool Attributes
I am not going to go much farther into this other than saying, I am looking forward to a some of the attribute additions, for example:
an <input>’s type attribute will accept email, url and more. Specifiying into further detail what the input is a control for. Smashing Magazine put together a great HTML 5 Cheat Sheet(PDF) if you want a further and more consolodated look.
Sexy and Simple DOM APIs
Video and Audio are so prevelant on the web these days, it is everywhere and is a really good way to share information. Seeing it grow so rapidly we can only assume that it will have a much larger roll to play in the future. HTML 5 has made the integration of video and audio amazingly simple by adding <video> and <audio> elements. The markup between the 2 are essentially identical, and simple. FF 3.5 has a pretty neat page dedicated to the video element here. Will there be a need for Flash when it comes to playing video and audio anymore? Who can really say this early in the game?
Simple DOCTYPE
Something we might all be able to pull from memory instead of relying on copy+paste or a default(which are great) HTML file strucutre. <!DOCTYPE html> that is it… nothing more. :)
Get Ready – Keep Informed
Here are a few real good links for keeping up to snuff with the updates occuring with HTML 5. Where we do not really expect to see much in the way of widespread usability in the near future, it’s getting there. I am looking forward to it, as are a lot of other developers.
You can keep in touch with the Markup here: HTML 5: The Markup Language
A good FAQ from our friends at the WHATWG: FAQ WHATWG Wiki
Some great resources from other contributors, much more in depth:
HTML 5 Doctor
Smashing Magazine – HTML 5 & The Future of the Web
A List Apart – Preview of HTML 5
WHATWG – Current Work on HTML 5
Showcase of sites using HTML 5 markup – HTML5 Gallery
Try to keep up with what is new and think forward when building your sites today. Cheers!
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