Microsoft Office Open XML Finally Gets ISO Approval
April 2, 2008
Boston (dbTechno) - The Microsoft Office Open XML format was approved as an international standard on Tuesday. Microsoft has been pushing to make OOXML the ISO standard since 2007 when it was first voted down.
The International Standards Organization sided with Microsoft, as the software giant received enough votes to get OOXML approved as an ISO standard.
The vote will be formally announced on Wednesday.
The format is used in Office 2007 programs to save documents. Microsoft has stated that this shows how open they now are with their formats.
Microsoft stated that OOXML will allow competitor’s programs to read and save the files, today, as well as in the future.
There were still many who opposed the ruling to make it standard, stating it blocks competitors, but in the end the majority won out.
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In this article there is a reference to the conflict surrounding the acceptance of OOXML as a International Standard.
The core complaint with OOXML is the inclusion of features which only Microsoft can implement. Proprietary features have a place in individual products, but they have no place in international standards.
If at any time during the standardization process Microsoft would have been willing to work through the technical issues with the other participants there would not be a problem. Instead they chose political means to push their standard through an unwilling body.