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W3C). This consortium is comprised of many companies, including
Microsoft, Netscape,
IBM, Sun, and Oracle; organizations such as the computer science department at MIT;
and individuals. When the W3C approves a standard, it becomes the
standard adopted
by the professional world. Keep in mind, however, that these standards are not legally
binding like traffic laws or building codes; some companies may
choose to modify them,
which is why the same page may look different in Netscape Navigator from Microsoft’s
Internet Explorer. By and large, though, companies stick to the recommendations of the
W3C.
We’ve Heard of Super Technologies Before. Why Is XML Different? Why Will the
World Accept It?
Good question. We believe that XML is here to stay for several reasons.
XML is an open standard ratified by the World Wide Web Consortium and, more
important, almost all the major industry players have
already announced their
commitment to the XML standard. To date, companies that have announced support of
the XML standard include Sun Microsystems, Netscape Communications,
Microsoft
Corporation, IBM, Oracle Corporation, Adobe Systems Inc., Hewlett Packard Co., and
Corel Corporation.
This kind of mass commitment doesn’t happen very often. These companies have agreed
to a standard because each has a voice in it and each has the ability to track the
development of the standard. By having their internal development
teams follow the
progression of the standards, these companies can have their products ready at the
same time the standard is announced. None of the consortium members has a clear
advantage over the others, ensuring a level playing field.
HTML, despite the incalculable benefits it
bestowed to the Web, inadvertently created a
huge hole in the arena of exchanging of structured information. The Web has very quickly
become messy and difficult to navigate; if the same underlying
technology were to
persist, it would quickly become an unusable chaotic mess. Necessity is the mother of
invention and, quite simply, XML is needed and needed now.
