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Microsoft Just Says No to .Doc Replacement Panel

Posted by timothy on from the they-could-take-another-fork-in-the-road dept.

Schlemphfer writes "OASIS is a nonprofit consortium backed by top technology companies, and the purpose of this organization is to set open standards for desktop and business software. They've just announced a working group that will create an XML-based document format standard for openoffice.org. And even though Microsoft is a member of Oasis, they aren't going to be taking part in this group. It's a logical move on Bill's part, considering that standardized XML docs are sure to weaken the hold that Microsoft's proprietary .doc format has on business software."

7 of 483 comments (clear)

  1. Re:RTF and ascii by sisukapalli1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    RTF and Text are not good at all... Especially when you want send an email saying "The meeting is at 10:30am. See you there", we need Office XP doc file, with a couple of signature attachments -- better yet, copy a PPT slide from standard company template and highlight the 10:30 with big, bright colors.

    Call this post a flamebait, but most people that use "Word" do that stuff.

    S

  2. Microsoft's contribution by Cyran0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's not that Microsoft didn't *want* to contribute. Here's their proposed DTD:

  3. Re:Besides by WhiteKnight07 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Office 11 will have an XML format available...

    I can see it now....

    <?MSXML version="1.0">
    <data>
    $%G)FKJ#$&F_CGKASK!^HAD*+ZXL:P::?......

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    We're going to make information free Mr. Anderson, whether you like it, or not.
  4. In related news... by RAMMS+EIN · · Score: 4, Funny

    In related news, slashdot.org has changed its mission statement. Instead of bringing you the latest _news_ (which is now done more effectively by Google), they are now commited to keeping you up to date on each and every way MicroSoft protects its assets, screws it's customers, and opens the web to anyone by spreading software with severe security holes. After the physical move of the servers a while ago, the editors now announce the immediate move of the site to the new domain: slashdot.microsoft.com .

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  5. Re:RTF and ascii by Oliver+Wendell+Jones · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is no worse than my company sending out a new e-mail policy as an attached Word document.

    It had no fancy formatting, and was essentially a list of do's and don'ts for corporate e-mail usage. One of the items on the list was "don't include unnecessary attachments - if it can be said in plain text, don't make it a Word document"...

    --
    A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing -- Emo Phillips
  6. XML sucks! Lisp S-expr rules! by MeanGene · · Score: 5, Funny
    XML structure is just wasteful and hard to read. Why would anyone prefer to write

    <italic>
    <bold>
    <fontsize=12>
    xyz!
    </fontsize>
    </bold>
    </italic>
    instead of succinct, clean and more flexible
    (italic (bold (fontsize 12 (text "xyz!))))
    Oh yeah, the answer is - Lisp has been around since 1950's and we can't get grants or buzz using it...
  7. Benefits others besides Microsoft by Sloppy · · Score: 5, Funny
    Here's another thing for conspiracy nuts to think about: Anything that anyone (including Microsoft) does that can keep people from switching away from MS Word's format, is good for...

    ...the Anti-Virus companies. The probability that a new word processor format would be designed to include enough expressiveness for trojans, is pretty darn low.

    So maybe McAfee or Symantec or someone like that, slipped a few bucks into Microsoft's pocket to ask 'em to oppose the new format. ;-)

    (I love coming up with this crazy shit.)

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