For now, at least. But considering that XML is a new standard and that many products based on it are unproven in practice, XML DevCon still attracted more than twice as many attendees as projected. It's hard not to wonder if XML is the Next Big Thing. Unlike Java and Linux, XML has universal support, ranging from Microsoft to Sun to the open-source camp. Exciting technologies such as WML are based on it.
Every vendor is committed to it.
Every developer we've talked to is thinking about it. We doubt that XML DevCon and its competitive events will stay small for long. We wear it in our pagers, cell phones and personal CD players, transport ourselves under its control in cars, mass transit and airplanes, and spend more hours each day interacting with it playing video games, surfing or working. Of course, we have plenty of examples that much of the software around is not robust. As applications move from the back office to the Web, and 24x7 uptime becomes the norm for every application, failures become public.