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I've always been wondering this: why are browser-specific prefixes necessary in CSS? Why can't all browsers use the same thing? What's stopping them from using a single standard? (I might just be hopelessly naive here.)

Ptr13
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    Standards develop organically. Let's say that I (as a vendor) decide to make a CSS property called "blink" (kidding, of course). I give it certain behavior that makes sense to me. The idea catches on, and a standardization effort is begun. But the standard may end up different than my implementation of "blink". The prefixes guarantee that while a property is in flux, there is (theoretically) no collision between the standard and the implementation. – Tim M. Sep 26 '13 at 00:22
  • It's worth noting that there *may* be a [move away from vendor prefixes in some cases](http://www.chromium.org/blink/developer-faq#TOC-Will-we-see-a--chrome--vendor-prefix-now-) (though how effective that is remains to be seen). – Tim M. Sep 27 '13 at 06:43

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These things are usually not (yet) an official standard, and the syntax may change in the future. For example, it happened with linear gradient and flexboxes. So the short answer is to avoid collision.

Evgeny
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