Hi Andrew,
I also like to remember that declarative XML graphics is not in
doubt, just which one. Along the Opera, FireFox, (Renesis?) margins is SVG,
but MS Xaml definitely forces the issue. If Adobe is to survive the MS
Metro/Xaml onslaught it will have to quickly adapt its pdf/flash to embrace
some kind of XML whether home grown or open standard.
Nice thing about XML though, is that parsing transcoding tools are
easy enough to build, so that regardless of what XML the target rendering
engine accepts, all the other XML dialects can take advantage of the
rendering with only the performance hit of transcoding.
I would still vote for SVG in the long run, but won't be too worried
if Xaml turns out the mainstay in the MS world. A web service can provide
either SVG or Xaml output depending on the client making the request. It
does complicate delivery, but doesn't present the barrier to entry that a
proprietary or unpublished format does.
Rumors about a pending Google purchase of Opera stir the pot even
more. I still think that svg-t mobile will be the leverage point for svg.
Xaml will be way too late to capture that market and a Firefox(opensource),
Opera(Google), mobile svg-t triumvirate would force a lot of Xaml to svg
transcoding in web services. Adobe looks to be the distant 3rd player with
just a flashXML, unless they decide to throw their lot in with the non-MS
world and adapt flash to work interchangeably with open standard svg.
Again just a bystander's opinion.
Randy
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2005 5:37 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [svg-developers] Is Adobe abandoning SVG?
Geoffrey,
Adobe "gave up" on SVG around the end of 2001. No, it didn't give up on SVG
completely but it did cut back its effort in a major way. If my memory
serves
me correctly ASV3 came out around November 2001.
Compare what Adobe did from 1999-2001 with SVG against what it has done in
the last 4 years. And then you will likely see why I say that Adobe "gave
up"
on SVG a long time ago.
Adobe's actions (or failures to act) at that time seriously damaged the
momentum behind SVG. It could, potentially, have destroyed SVG but it
didn't.
A commonly asked question is why did Adobe push SVG forward (which it did)
then "pull the plug" on SVG. The best explanation/suggestion that I know is
that Adobe saw SVG as a strategic threat to PDF (which, as far as I am
aware,
Adobe owns).
Will Adobe "give up" **completely** on SVG in the near future? I doubt it.
Will Adobe ever completely support all of SVG? I doubt that too, but that is
simply a guess.
The good thing is that the damage resulting from Adobe's failures to act
from 2001 to 2005 in further developing implementations of SVG, has
stimulated
others to pick up the torch. The plus side is that SVG is no longer a
"single
company" technology (not that it ever was, strictly speaking).
But SVG, although having been damaged by Adobe's inaction, is in better
shape now than I have seen it for a very long time.
For example, the FireFox SVG implementation (although far from complete)
gives a base for genuine cross-platform SVG support. I very much hope that
the
Mozilla Foundation really puts effort and resources into taking forward the
Firefox SVG implementation.
On the other hand, SVG has a more impressive potential competitor on the
horizon than it has had up to now. I am referring to Microsoft's XAML and
the
Sparkle Designer. I am guessing that that is, say, 18 months off from
release
but it has, in my opinion, enormous potential. Currently Windows only as far
as
I am aware. So it's not a direct competitor to Firefox SVG.
What does SVG need? Others are better placed than I currently am to make
specific suggestions. I think one of the crucial things is a
design/development
tool that makes creating SVG easier for designers/programmers. That's where
I
see Microsoft as having a particularly strong tool in Sparkle - it gives a
design environment that allows designing and programming to work
synergistically. To the best of my knowledge SVG hasn't had such a tool. In
my opinion it
needs one. 99% (at a guess) of the people who could develop/design with SVG
won't have the time to hand code.
All the above is my opinion. YMMV.
Andrew Watt
In a message dated 13/12/2005 18:46:58 GMT Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
I just installed the ASV 6 beta (from
http://www.adobe.com/svg/viewer/install/beta.html )
and it looks really good. The antialiasing looks better, and some
helpful features like cursors are implemented.
The shadow filter I am using looks cleaner as well.
But since the BETA is 2.5 years old, it looks like Adobe's work has
ground to a halt. As kewl as SVG is, is Adobe giving up on it?
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