man for a minute i didnt know if this was a thread about IE 9 or about html 5 lol.. But html5 and css3 should be a great new features for easier development. IE is a virus magnet, that's how i make most my money fixing computers who have virus because they used IE.
HTML5 is not animations. Do not mix HTML5 and CSS3. When HTML5 is supported by 95% of all browsers worldwide, then I will code HTML5 only. That day will come, maybe in several years. Until that day we have too much IE7/8 (not supporting HTML5, only the with help JS). HTML5 is not "official standard". Same with CSS3. I use some CSS3 properties but not animations.
Then start. HTML5 is supported by 95% of all browsers today. (IE needs the javascript shim). CSS2.1 only became finalized about 3 years ago but that didn't stop anyone from using it. Standards are based on implementation. If you wait till HTML5 and CSS3 are finalized, you'll be way behind the curve.
does that includes the old browsers? I mean surely, there are still those who uses the old ie6 or older. Are there javascript plugins to enable it (old browsers that doesn't support it)? I've found this: http://code.google.com/p/html5shim/ that works for all versions of ie? If so, I may start studying it then.
Too much of our users are using IE7/IE8 and crap like that. HTML5 is NOT supported by them and I do not want to load any JS for that...
This will make IE7 work but I don't recall about IE6. My pages work in both. Of course, all of IE will need tweaking of CSS compared to the modern browsers. Either Tim Berners-Lee or Tim Bray once said the modern web was always meant to be scriptable and this is one line of js. Of course, it won't force IE to work with canvas or SVG or XHTML or things we use in this century but it will make HTML work.