W3C aren't "setting" any standard. They're simply a group who is documenting
what other people (actual developers) are doing and the dates given are simply
their target dates for finishing their documents.
WHATWG is where the
standards are developed. They don't use the term "HTML5" or have version
numbers. They however are the forum where the people who are actually creating
new features agree on how they will work. Changes are incremental and
non-disruptive. If your web page worked before, it will continue to work in
future.
As for performance, browsers are getting faster not slower
with the introduction of new "HTML5" features. Web pages aren't suitable for
every application, but the same is true for any software technology. Each method
has its place. What "HTML5" does is to help get rid of the Java, Flash,
Silverlight, ActiveX, and other plug-ins by integrating their useful features
directly into the browser itself. The fact that those plug-ins even exist is due
to the stagnation imposed by the slow W3C process. By getting rid of the plug-in
mess we can improve compatibility and the ability to be able to see a web page
anywhere without having to worry about whether version 'x' of plug-in 'y' is
available yet on device 'z'. This is what WHATWG is doing, with W3C trailing
along behind them and copying their work.
The only real problem that
I've seen has nothing to do with HTML itself. It's the Java and C# programers
who don't know anything about web development and who try to write a web
application the same way that they write a Java or C# program. The end result is
the same slow, bloated mess that we see in "enterprise" Java or C# programs.
Other developers make the problem worse by creating Javascript libraries and
frameworks so that these Java and C# programs don't have to operate outside
their comfort zones. The end result is huge web pages containing masses of
useless auto-generated boilerplate, and which dynamically create HTML that
should have been static page content. A real web developer knows HTML, CSS, and
plain Javascript and can work with them directly to create fast simple web
pages.
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