Popular HTML5 Boilerplate Releases v2.0

The developers behind HTML5 Boilerplate have released version 2.0 of their boilerplate HTML, CSS and JavaScript templates for quickly prototyping HTML5 designs.

You can grab a copy of HTML5 Boilerplate v2.0 from the HTML5 Boilerplate website.

Version 2.0 of HTML5 Boilerplate has several significant changes, including ditching the traditional reset stylesheet for normalize.css. Normalize is a bit different in that it retains useful browser defaults and only resets those elements necessary to achieve cross-browser default styling consistency. It’s a minor point, but my favorite part of normalize.css is that it doesn’t litter your dev tools (Firebug, WebKit Inspector, etc) with endless reset rules.

Other new features in HTML5 Boilerplate include support for Respond.js (which helps if your site uses a "mobile first" approach), faster build times (up to 80 percent faster according to the release notes) and, with v2, your IE 6 visitors will now be prompted to install Chrome Frame.

For more details on everything that’s new in HTML5 Boilerplate v2, head on over to the official site and read through the changelog. Perhaps the most refreshing thing about this release, is this note in the FAQs:

Do I need to upgrade my sites to a new version?

Nope. So far there have been no critical bugs within our code that we’ve fixed from version to version. There are some nice changes that reduce your stress, but updating your HTML or CSS to the new stuff is probably more effort than it’s worth.

However, the .htaccess and Build Script you probably didn’t edit and therefore can be dropped into your existing sites with little hassle and likely a significant reward. So feel free to update those, and also update your Modernizr and jQuery versions to the latest versions they have.

• HTML5 Reset Speeds Up Site Development With Handy Boilerplate Code

• Start Small, Build Big With ‘320 and Up’

• CSS3 Pie Lets You Have Your CSS and IE It, Too