@ks2problema
You do seem little 'touchy' yes. I'm assuming the politicisation you mention refers to the Flash war between Adobe and Apple, which was the reason Apple proposed HTML5 in the first place to fill an obvious need for rich media not met by the W3C standards, causing everyone to use Flash for streaming video and sound as well as dynamic and interactive content. As a web designer interested in standards, you should appreciate that Flash is bad for the open web, and the push by Apple and others for HTML5/CSS3/AJAX to replace it, with work on things like highly optimised Javascript engines, starting with Apple's 'SquirrelFish', to enable rich Web applications without Flash. There are also the highly-publicised security implications of Flash, as it is one of the most-exploited attack vectors, and on the Mac it is the leading cause of browser crashes as the Mac implementation is not as stable nor efficient, often causing excessive CPU usage. Linux users have even more reason to dislike it. This is even more relevant for Apple as they push into the mobile market, where people won't tolerate their phones crashing or slowing to a crawl, not to mention sucking the battery dry. Talks between Apple and Adobe on these issues go back many years, and it has now come to a head. Nor is it in anybody's interest, not least Apple's, to rely so heavily on one company for a plugin which has sadly become a defacto proprietary standard. As you mentioned, we have been there before in the Browser war; there are still sites relying on ActiveX components. You would have to agree that Apple's push for standards using HTML5/Javascript and H264/AAC is preferable to Microsoft's strategy of challenging Flash with their own proprietary Silverlight and Windows Media.
As for Apple's HTML5 Showcase (at www.apple.com/html5/ ), which is a brochure site promoting Safari in their devices and part of Apple's campaign against Flash; yes, they do test for Webkit. Yes, it blocks Firefox and Opera as they are not supported. But go there with Chrome or any other Webkit-based browser, and you will be able to see most of the demos. In the instances where Chrome doesn't support it yet, a popup tells you so, as in the case of 3D Transforms on the Transitions page. It will also urge you to download Safari if you want to see the effect. As a brochure showcase site touting the HTML5, CSS3, and Javascript capabilities of Safari, specifically, that is hardly surprising (it is stated clearly at the top). It is not a generic test site like their SunSpider Javascript test or their Acid2/3 CSS test aimed at developers generally. WebKit is at the forefront of HTML5 development, Apple being a primary backer of HTML5, as such new proposals often appear first in it. Some things may never be adopted, or the specs changed down the line. This site is a showcase of the possibilities of the proposals as they stand.
HTML5 as a whole is yet to be ratified, and only parts of it is approaching maturity, like the , and elements. The thirst for it after years of HTML stagnation is such that sites are prepared to adopt it as it stands even before the dust has settled, and this despite no support from IE. Youtube has been testing the element with H264, and my tests back up their assessment that it is not ready yet. On Chrome, my main browser, playback is flakey, at least in their implementation. Both Youtube and Chrome are of course owned by Google.
Personally I support the move away from Flash wherever possible for various reasons, Standards and Security being the big ones. Less memory and CPU usage is equally welcome. Even then something like Flash may have its place. Certainly there are currently no IDEs like Flash for Standards-based web applications or animation, and none will be forthcoming from Adobe, and Microsoft is busy pushing Silverlight and ASP in the Expression Studio suite. One might suspect Apple could be working on something if they are serious about taking on Flash with web standards now they are positioning themselves as a mobile device maker.
Apple has just published the latest upgrade to Safari, version 5.0.1, which includes a whole new feature called “Extensions Gallery,” as well as a number of other interesting fixes.
