Open XML Changes Get Put Down on Paper -- Lots of It

January 21, 2008 (Computerworld) -- The standards body pushing Microsoft Corp.’s Office Open XML document format for approval as an ISO standard published a 2,300-page document last week addressing complaints and suggestions made by ISO members. Under ISO rules, Ecma International’s full document can be viewed via a Web portal only by members of national standards bodies. But Geneva-based Ecma openly posted a summary of the key changes made to the Open XML standards proposal, which failed to win enough votes in initial balloting last September. The changes include the sidelining of a graphics-rendering technology used by few vendors other than Microsoft, and the addition of more information on how Open XML, the native file format in Office 2007, supports file compatibility with older versions of Office. The length of Ecma’s response isn’t surprising, since ISO members submitted 3,522 written comments about Open XML in the wake of the September vote. A second vote is scheduled for late next month. The rival Open Document Format for Office Applications, or ODF, has already been ratified as a standard by ISO. But Burton Group, a consulting firm in Midvale, Utah, issued a report last week predicting that ODF will have only “a minor role” in IT installations compared with Open XML. Marino Marcich, executive director of the OpenDocument Format Alliance, retorted that many users have adopted “a buyer- beware attitude” toward Open XML because it would “tie them to the upgrade path of a single vendor.”

Open XML Changes Get Put Down on Paper -- Lots of It

Ecma International has completed a 2,300-page document containing responses to comments about its proposal to have Microsoft's Office Open XML file format accepted as an ISO standard.

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