Jan van den Beld, the Secretary General of Ecma International in Geneva from 1991-2007 and the standards body that first approved Open XML writes today on "the groups opposed to ratification of Open XML who want to continue their harangue and tear down anyone who doesn’t agree with them." He...
For a good inside story of how Open XML almost got derailed -- and how standards bodies traditionally work -- check out this blog by the former head of Ecma (the organization that first standardized Open XML and then submitted it to ISO): http://janvandenbeld.blogspot.com/2008/04/value-of-standardization...
This is a pretty big deal. Nice to see that the ISO is open to recommendations from all levels. Hopefully this will help more companies and programmers feel comfortable in becoming proficient in Open XML. It will certainly help the community in regards to the stability longevity of the format.
Reports are coming out that Open XML has been approved as a standard. PC World reports here .
ISO voting on Open XML concludes soon (at end of the month?). Whatever happens, there is ample discussion of Sun, IBM, and others voicing strong oppposition, not for technical reasons, but purely as a competitive play. For instance, the Economic Times of India writes of India's national standards...
VFI member Stephen McGibbon has been doing a lot of blogging on the Open XML debate. With the final voting period for national bodies concluding on March 29th, McGibbon cross links to Patrick Durusau's post on what would happen if Open XML is voted down at ISO. Durusau is an editor of OpenDocument...
Some of the material in this booklet makes a very strong case for why Open XML should be ratified as an ISO standard. Ultimately, there is no reason -- technically or in terms of the standards process -- why Open XML should not be a standard. Standardization is about arriving at consensus, and there...
If you are interested in learning more about the practical applications of Open XML, we now have videos on the site. There is a good Red Cross Video that shows how they are implementing an Open XML solution for first responders. See the video here .
Microsoft has published a new booklet entitled “ Your Documents, Your Choice: Open XML – A Policy Guide”. The booklet includes overviews of: · recommendations on policies to support innovation and economic growth, · third party research on the economic and customer benefits of Open XML, · how governments...
