> 1. Can we have serialize functionality in a future XSLT 
> version (perhaps 2.1), something like, xsl:serialize(...) 
> which exactly follows the Saxon serialize extension semantics?
> saxon:serialize seems to me a quite useful extension, and I 
> think it could be available in standard XSLT.

Yes, there is agreement in principle to add this. The definition might be
slightly different, of course.
> 
> 2. XSLT 2.0 allows us to define xsl:output elements with 'name'
> attribute, which can be used in saxon:serialize function (as 
> shown above). Apart from saxon:serialize function, do any 
> standard XSLT 2.0 instructions/facilities use xsl:output 
> elements having 'name' attribute?

Yes, xsl:result-document.

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/