XML to create Webpages? Why?

[Mr Initial Man]

Some people think it would be wonderful to have your webpage content contained in XML files, and use XSL to transform it into XHTML. Browser issues aside, why would anyone want to do it? If you want to have it in other formats (such as PDF), why not write everything out in, say, XHTML, and use an XSL stylesheet to render it into PDF?

[NogDog]

I have no idea why. I use HTML 4.01 Strict for all my web sites/pages for maximum browser support, unless a client specifies I must use something else. I reserve the use of XML for data that needs to be transferred between applications other than web browsers (RSS feeds, data trasmission to/from billing sites, etc.).

[felgall]

XML is basically independent of the final format. You can convert it to XHTML for display on the web, PDF for display elsewhere, Word doc to create an editable version for people and so on. Unless you are expecting to need to create multiple format files for different purposes then there isn't much point in using it as you are just adding an extra step to the process.

[boxxertrumps]

i have xhtml 1.1, and just send it as html to IE.

Kindof annoying, but making use of the overbloated error correction cant be that bad.