HTML and Backward compatibility

[v4vijayakumar]

My first post to ah.

Are HTML versions are backward compatible to previous versions?

If yes, why who really needs this backward compatibility?

If no, why all these HTML versions look same all the time? Why there
are no considerable improvements? Why not let the browsers worry about
things.

How long we, users, have to wait for more interesting things like
window inside window?!

 

[David Dorward]

Are HTML versions are backward compatible to previous versions?

To some extent. Elements and attributes get deprecated as better ways
to solve problems are added to the language.

If no, why all these HTML versions look same all the time? Why there
are no considerable improvements?

Because development stalled while waiting for browsers to implement
HTML 4.x and XHTML 1.x.

Why not let the browsers worry about things.

HTML 4.01 is six and a half years old and still isn't properly
implemented in Internet Explorer.

How long we, users, have to wait for more interesting things like
window inside window?!

"Window inside window" is called "frames", was introduced in HTML 4,
and promptly avoided by most of the web development community because
the concept breaks the mapping of "one url = one view", which doesn't
work nicely with search engines, bookmarks, and various other things.