原文地址：http://www.w3schools.com/xhtml/xhtml_why.asp
翻译：范维肖
XHTML is a combination of HTML and XML (eXtensible Markup Language).
XHTML是HTML和XML的有机结合。
XHTML consists of all the elements in HTML 4.01 combined with the syntax of XML.
HTML4.01中的所有元素与XML的语法相结合组成了XHTML。
Why XHTML?
我们为什么用XHTML呢？
We have reached a point where many pages on the WWW contain "bad" HTML.
互联网发展到现在，已经出现了太多的糟糕的HTML页面。
The following HTML code will work fine if you view it in a browser, even if it does not follow the HTML rules:
下面的这些HTML代码在你的浏览器中能够很好的显示，即使它并不是遵循HTML标准的。
<html>
<head>
<title>This is bad HTML</title>
<body>
<h1>Bad HTML
</body>
XML is a markup language where everything has to be marked up correctly, which results in "well-formed" documents.
XML是一种标记语言，每一处都必须被正确的标记，它的结果必然是一个“格式良好”的文档。
XML was designed to describe data and HTML was designed to display data.
XML是被设计用来描述数据的,而HTML是被设计用来显示数据的
Today's market consists of different browser technologies, some browsers run internet on computers, and some browsers run internet on mobile phones and hand helds. The last-mentioned do not have the resources or power to interpret a "bad" markup language.
现在的市场上有很多种浏览器技术，有一些可以在电脑上运行，也有一些可以在移动电话或掌上电脑上运行。最后要说明的是它们都没有足够的资源或能去解释一种“糟糕的”标记语言。
Therefore - by combining HTML and XML, and their strengths, we got a markup language that is useful now and in the future - XHTML.
因此，通过HTML和XML的有机结合，加之它们各自的长处，我们现在并且在将来获得了这种完美的标记语言－XHTML
XHTML pages can be read by all XML enabled devices AND while waiting for the rest of the world to upgrade to XML supported browsers, XHTML gives you the opportunity to write "well-formed" documents now, that work in all browsers and that are backward browser compatible !!!
等到世界上的其它浏览器已升级为支持XML的时候，XHTML能够被所有支持XML的设备读取，XHTML给你一个写出“格式良好的”文档的机会，这些文档能够在左右的浏览器中查看，并且有良好的向后兼容性。
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