The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has named four new editors of the HTML5 spec to replace departing editor Ian Hickson.
The W3C’s HTML Working Group co-chair Paul Cotton announced the four-way editorship in a e-mail to the W3C’s public HTML mailing list.
The four new editors include two Microsoft employees, Travis Leithead and Erika Doyle Navara, Apple’s Ted O’Conner and Silvia Pfeiffer of Ginger Technologies, a company specializing in HTML video.
“The Chairs received a large number of applications for the position of HTML5 editor,” writes Cotton. “After evaluating all the applications, we chose the above HTML5 editorial team based on the individual qualifications of the new editors as well as the combination of the individual appointee’s qualifications.”
The heavy representation of Microsoft is interesting given that Microsoft is not currently a member of the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG), the other standards body that oversees HTML. It would seem that Microsoft is doubling down on the W3C version of HTML.
The editor change is part of the recent split that sees the two standards bodies jointly responsible for developing the HTML specification, moving in different directions.
The W3C and the WHATWG have long acted as separate bodies, but previously shared an editor, Ian Hickson, who helped ensure that the two specs remained in sync. Then last year the WHATWG announced it was dropping the “5″ version number and would work on HTML as a “living standard” sans version numbers. The W3C continued to focus on HTML “snapshots” like HTML5.
“The WHATWG effort is focused on developing the canonical description of HTML,” wrote when he stepped down as W3C editor last week. “The W3C effort, meanwhile, is now focused on creating a snapshot developed according to the venerable W3C process.”