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ISO Open XML Vote to Be Fast-Tracked

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

April 2, 2007, 1:44 PM

The process towards certifying the Microsoft-backed Office Open XML as a standard moved closer to reality Monday, as the Ecma standards body said that the format will be put to a five-month vote to standardize it.

A vote would mean that Open XML could become a standard as early as August, and will make both ODF and itself as competing ISO standards. OpenDocument received ISO standardization last May.

Supporters of the format say it provides an international open standard for word-processing documents, presentations, and spreadsheets that can be freely implemented across multiple applications and platforms.

The format has already been integrated into products from Corel, Microsoft, and Novell. Its detractors, however, say Open XML is overly complicated and that there is no need for two competing standards.

Nevertheless, Ecma sees no issue with standardizing both, although it is inviting member nations of ISO to comment on the process. JTC 1, the ISO committee tasked with Open XML, first made suggestions that the process should be fast-tracked in mid-March.

The apparent reversal of fortune in Microsoft's favor had some perennial advocates of open standardization crying foul, having reversed their stance from faith in the open standards community to doubts as to its integrity.

A request for comment from Microsoft was outstanding as of press time.

Add a Comment (8 Comments)

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By newbee70

posted Apr 3, 2007 - 5:56 PM

How many millions did Microsoft use to grease the wheels of adoption?

Score: 0

By zridling

posted Apr 2, 2007 - 7:24 PM

Bob Sutor's comments to the Texas legislature are quite informative on this issue, and on more states legislating open standards for government documents:
________________________________________________
Good afternoon/evening, Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee. IBM supports this bill. This bill is about the future, increased competition and innovation, and about more choice for Texas. It is completely consistent with the technological and intellectual property directions of the software industry.
...
Second, change is happening now and users will, over time, get new applications that use new document based file formats. I have never met a CIO or financial person who has told me that they will never get new software. So, there’s a fork in the road approaching rapidly and you must choose: go with a single supplier and pay those taxes I mentioned, or go with truly open document formats that are not dictated by a single vendor and get increased competition, innovation from many parties, and real choice [etc.]

Well worth reading and understanding. Choose now whether you want to forever pay the Microsoft tax, or own and control the contents of your documents. Choose Microsoft and they will decide for you, locking you into their proprietary MS-OOXML. Or choose the ISO certified OASIS OpenDocument (ODF) format and move on with your life.

Score: 0

By easson

posted Apr 2, 2007 - 8:44 PM

Usual drivel from zridling. People reading this stuff for the first time might be surprised to know, instead, that:
- OOXML does not belong to Microsoft, it belongs to the ECMA standards body. And, it looks very likely that by the end of summer it will also be an ISO standard.
- It is not proprietary in *any* sense of the word.
- It is directly supported by 4 vendors -- Microsoft, Novel, Corel, and Sun -- not one.
- There is no lock in at all. You "own and control the content of your documents".

Score: 0

By bksgs1

posted Apr 3, 2007 - 1:04 AM

read this extract - all your 'misconceptions' about MS will vanish.

" .... Bill's(General Manager of Platform Strategy at Microsoft) answer was quite surprising, as he clarified that the file format (OOXML) was a part of the software and that OOXML and the software (MS Office) are quite inseparable. Ergo, OOXML is an integral and inseparable part of MS Office. That's why they could not adopt ODF as the file format for subsequent versions of MS Office.
I don't really know if Bill realises this, but he's just illuminated that this whole OOXML, ECMA and ISO standards play is not about standards nor about Microsoft vs IBM but about legitimizing as a standard a specific technology from a single company developed in isolation from the general technology and user community worldwide. ...."

for full article see following link
http://www.openmalaysiab...03/day_1_microsoft.html

Score: 0

By zridling

edited Apr 3, 2007 - 7:27 PM

How convenient you dodge the issues at hand. You sound like all the other desperate Microsofties. Let's check the facts instead.

- OOXML does not belong to Microsoft, it belongs to the ECMA standards body. And, it looks very likely that by the end of summer it will also be an ISO standard.
— That's a bald-faced lie. Ecma 376 is labeled "MS-OOXML" — der. No "standards body" (and Ecma is just a fast-tracking vessel of ISO) is EVER going to control and manage a single specification. Who would fund it, for example, and when does a governing body have time to update it? And who else BUT Microsoft would control it? It's development was not an "open standard" by any definition of either word or the term.

- It is not proprietary in *any* sense of the word.
— Another lie; in fact, it's a huge one. Check the interdependencies that MS-OOXML brings to documents, they are everywhere. First, only Office 2007 can read an MS-OOXML document, and second, it's well documented what happens when you save a document with macros embedded (it resorts to all kinds of proprietary crud to make it work that only Microsoft controls and uses).

- It is directly supported by 4 vendors -- Microsoft, Novel, Corel, and Sun -- not one.
Huh?
- Novell — NOT (guess you didn't use their translator yet);
- Corel — Not yet, and I'm eager to see how they pull it off and how accurate their translation will be (and when it's not, who gets blamed — hint: not Microsoft!);
- Sun — You are joking right? Sun has no intention of writing a MS-OOXML translator. Why should they, they already use an ISO certified spec: the OASIS OpenDocument (ODF) format;
- Microsoft — ding-ding-ding — correct! And the ONLY vendor so far. Makes you wonder what's taking everyone so long? Compare the ODF spec to the MS-OOXML spec and you will be laughing out loud, trust me.

- There is no lock in at all. You "own and control the content of your documents".
Only as long as Microsoft decides you do; that is, you keep buying their software to read 'your' documents. This is the very reason it's called THE MICROSOFT TAX. You have to pay to access and edit your MS-OOXML documents, but ODF documents will forever be free and accessible by any vendor who adopts ODF, period.

Got any more outright lies that are so easy to shoot down? MS-OOXML will be rejected in a few months, and then what will you say? ODF is about the future of documents; MS-OOXML is all about the past and remaining dependent on Microsoft's software and file legacy formats.

Score: 0

By crashoverride

posted Apr 2, 2007 - 8:30 PM

Thanks for the link. I have to say that I agree with everything this guy said. Depending on a single vendor with proprietary formats is nothing more than a road to disaster. Not to mention that it's unhealthy for the IT industry as a whole.