The W3C has an early Christmas present for web developers: The standards body that oversees the lingua franca of the web has published the complete definition of the HTML5 specification.

HTML5 isn’t an official standard yet, but the move to what the W3C calls “Candidate Recommendation” CR status means that the spec is largely stable, features are frozen, and testing can begin. In other words, the W3C is on track to publish the final version of HTML5 by 2014.

While developers targeting modern web browsers are already using HTML5 and many of its accompanying APIs, the move to CR status is nevertheless important because it marks the beginning of the interoperability and testing phase.

MORE:  HTML5 Inches Closer to the Finish Line | Webmonkey | Wired.com.