Adobe today released an extension for Dreamweaver CS5 today. #AdobeCP
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According to Adobe's Labs web site,
Adobe® Dreamweaver® CS5 HTML5 Pack is an extension for Adobe Dreamweaver CS5. This extension provides features to help users generate HTML5 and CSS3 code. Features include Multiscreen Preview, Media Query support, code hinting, starter layouts, and WebKit updates for rendering enhancements.
This is a positive move for Adobe, who has been chided in recent weeks for snubbing Apple and founder Steve Jobs' calls for a more "open" Web. Since HTML5 ratification is a decade away or more, this move is clearly aimed at proving that Adobe can indeed work with emerging standards, even before they become standards.
Adobe has a long history in this regard, and I am reminded of the evolving standards for job exchange in the print industry. The PDF/X standard set consists of several specifications for different print intents. Depending on the capabilities of the printer and the type of job, one of the standards would be used to exchange the print job. For instance, PDF/X-1a has become a de-facto standard for printers around the world. If your PDF passes the PDF/X-1a test, it will be printable by just about any printer. Period. Other standards, such as PDF/X-4, PDF/X-5, and PDF/X-VT came about in response to evolution of RIP technologies in the printing industry. The PDF/X-4 appeared in Adobe's Creative Suite 4 prior to its ratification, in anticipation of broadening support for the hardware and software for which the standard was developed.
I see parallels here with HTML5. While not set in stone, a draft specification exists and developers are free to create content that meets the draft spec. Adobe has done the right thing here in making a set of tools available ten years ahead of the specification. Unfortunately, it may be perceived as a desperate move, despite the tools having been available internally for many months prior to the whole Flash-Apple nonsense.
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