From http://www.w3schools.com (Copyright Refsnes Data)
HTML is the universal markup language for the Web.
To see how this Web Site was converted to XHTML, read our XHTML tutorial.
XHTML 1.0 became a W3C Recommendation 20. January 2000.
XHTML 1.0 Second Edition became a W3C Recommendation 1. August 2002. The second edition is not a new version, but an update and a "bug-fix".
XHTML 1.0 was the first major change to HTML since 1997, and a very important step to create a standard that will provide richer web pages on a wider range of user agents (browsers), like desktop PCs, mobile (wireless) devices, and cell phones.
XHTML 1.0 reformulates HTML 4.01 in XML. XHTML 1.0 relies on HTML 4.01 for the meanings of the HTML tags.
W3C's next step includes modularization of XHTML into smaller element collections, to make it easier to combine XHTML with other markup languages, like vector graphics and multimedia.
Modularization of XHTML also gives reduced development costs, improved cooperation with other applications (like databases), easier communication with different user agents (browsers), and cleaner integration between HTML and different XML standards.
XHTML 1.0 is a reformulation of HTML 4.01 in XML.
To learn more about XHTML visit our XHTML tutorial.
Small devices cannot support all XHTML functions, therefore XHTML 1.1 divides the specification into modules with limited functionality.
Small browsers can reduce their complexity by supporting only selected modules.
XHTML 1.1 is a strict language. XHTML 1.1 is not backward compatible with HTML 4.
XHTML Basic is a small subset of XHTML 1.1. It contains only the basic XHTML features like text structure, images, forms, and tables. It is designed for small browsers (like in handheld devices).
With support for the DOM in XHTML, event handlers can be attached to XHTML elements so that parent elements can handle events before and after child elements.
To learn more about the DOM, study our DOM tutorial.
XHTML-Print is a part of XHTML 1.1.
XHTML-Print is designed for mobile devices and low-cost printers that generally print from top to bottom of a page with no printing buffer and without a device-specific printer driver.
XForms are the successors of HTML forms. XForms provides a richer and presentation independent way of handling interactive Web transactions. Designed to be integrated with XHTML, we can expect that future e-commerce applications will demand the use of XForms.
To learn more about XForms, study our XForms tutorial.
XHTML 2.0 is expected to remain similar to XHTML 1.1, but the markup language may be altered to conform to the requirements of XML standards like XML Linking and XML Schema.
XLink is a language for creating hyperlinks in XML documents. XLink is similar to HTML links - but it is a lot more powerful.
You can learn more about XLink in our XLink tutorial.
HLink is an extension to XLink, and it specifies which attributes of elements represent hyperlinks in XHTML, and specifies how hyperlinks should be traversed.
| Specification | Draft /Proposal | Recommendation |
| XHTML 1.0 | 26. Jan 2000 | |
| XHTML 1.0 Revision | 01. Aug 2002 | |
| XHTML 1.1 | 31. May 2001 | |
| XHTML Modules | 10. Apr 2001 | |
| XHTML Modules 1.1 | 05. Jul 2006 | |
| XHTML Basic | 19. Dec 2000 | |
| XHTML Basic 1.1 | 13. Jul 2007 | |
| XHTML Events | 14. Oct 2003 | |
| XHTML Events 2 | 16. Feb 2007 | |
| XHTML Print | 20. Sep 2006 | |
| XHTML Media Types | 01. Aug 2002 | |
| XForms 1.0 | 14. Oct 2003 | |
| XForms 1.0 (SE) | 14. Mar 2006 | |
| XForms 1.1 | 22. Feb 2007 | |
| XHTML 2.0 | 26. Jul 2006 | |
| XLink | 27. Jun 2001 | |
| HLink | 13. Sep 2002 |
From http://www.w3schools.com (Copyright Refsnes Data)