MS Withdraws From WC3 Web Services Working Group

slashusrslashbin writes "CNet is reporting that Microsoft has broken with a key Web Services standard effort. Apparently the W3C 'is not the only vehicle in which to impact and evaluate a set of technologies.' Evaluating them in a massive monopoly is probably just as good..."

Comments

surprise?

[den_erpel]

After their withdrawal of the OpenGL consortium or board, this is not a surprise.

Afterall microsoft _is_ the standard, why should you have independent standard committees?? :(

Re:surprise?

[The Bungi]

Office 2003 XML has been reported to be almost worthless to non-M$ apps.

If you're referring to the "reporting" done here in Slashdot, think again. The article posted re: Office XML was flamebait, pure and simple, as are many of the "m$ sucks" articles posted here day in and day out.

I suggest you go read the responses to that article - pay attention to those modded down "flamebait". And then find a valid news source.

Microsoft will extend the base classes to the point of complete uninteroperability as quickly as they can

Wow, I'd kill to have a crystal ball!

In other news

[the_other_one]

Microsoft announces new standardized anti trust laws...

Only a portion of the W3C

[n-baxley]

It's important to note, and not really clear in the post, that MS is only pulling out of the so-called choreography group for Web Services. It's still a shame, but not as drastic as if they were pulling out all together or abandoning the working group that defines XHTML or CSS. It's still too bad though.

Public Image, Feet to Fire, Etc.

[4of12]

As the article said, it's a real shame that the standards making body loss the contributions of MS, since their emissaries were regarded well by the rest of the members.

Two things are evident, though.

One, that MS joins standards bodies as part of a public relations and marketing ploy. They find there is some value in being able to use standards as a way to sell their product (eg, the latest "Office does XML"), but their commitment to adhering to standards and to releasing full specifications of their products, which have become de facto standards, is monotonously disappointing.

Second, while the anti-trust investigation by the U.S Department of Justice was underway and the outcome was subject to some chance, their behavior was better. Unfortunately, it seems as if they already know or don't fear the outcome of the EU investigation, or they might make a better effort to uphold standards, which are the essential ingredient for a competitive software marketplace.

Re:IBM

[SN74S181]

When has any commercial concern who produced a 'market leading web browser' paid much attention at all to the W3C? Netscape certainly didn't, back when they produced one. In fact, one of the biggest Netscape innovations was proprietary extensions that only their server technology provided. They had a whole business plan and planned revenue stream built around that notion.

I exclusively use Mozilla these days, so I am quite glad that Netscape failed.

Ms vs. IBM

[Burb]

Sun issued a statement condemning the move, saying that "IBM and (Microsoft) have now moved away from a leadership position in Web services standards and become a disruptive force in the industry."

I read this, thought "I bet the slashdotters will denounce Big Bill and leave IBM alone". Was I right?

We don't need any standards...

[ptaff]

Of course standards have no importance...

WMA, BMP, WAV, RLE, were all formats that absolutely necessary. There was no other way before to store that kind of information.

C# is also so important! I mean, there was no language before that could be run in a virtual machine.

Old MS Joke

[Schart]

This (and the OpenGL thing and... well, a LOT of things MS does) reminds me of this OLD joke I heard quite a few years ago:

Q. How many Microsoft engineers does it take to change a lightbulb?

A. None. They simply declare darkness to be the new standard.

GONNNNG!!