Microsoft Pledges Conditional Support for ODF

Macthorpe writes "BetaNews is reporting that Microsoft has announced in a letter that they will support ODF as a format option, if it doesn't 'restrict choice among formats'. Citing their lack of opposition to the ratification of ODF as a standard, they go on to say: 'ODF's design may make it attractive to those users that are interested in a particular level of functionality in their productivity suite or developers who want to work that format. Open XML may be more attractive to those who want richer functionality [...] This is not to say that one is better than the other — just that they meet different needs in the marketplace.'"

Comments

Richer as "representing dates before year 1900"

[FedeTXF]

Yes, OOXML is richer, specially when you want to represent dates: http://www.openmalaysiablog.com/2007/06/malaysias_ histo.html

ODF trying to monopolize the standards process ..

[rs232]

"open source ODF format as perhaps trying to monopolize the standards process"

translation: An open format that anyone can write to without conceding licensing restrictions to a single commercial company is in actuallity a monopoly.

"Certainly there's a place for ODF in the world, the interoperability team continues, and users are free to make that choice for whatever reasons they'd want to do so"

translation: We want to own the standard.

"We ensure our ability to add value by ensuring that we are masters of the schema"

"Microsoft perceives the standards process as one of four "toolsets" .. to achieve interoperability .. when the standards process fails, he said, the other three "toolsets" could be relied upon as a backup plan"

translation: We'll pretend to support open standards while covertly working to push our own non-standard standard.

'Standards, Robertson told BetaNews, "are a very important tool to use to address interoperability .. cycle of innovation that's more rapid than the cycle of standardization .. and shouldn't you look to some of the other tools that you have available to you, to address interoperability?'

translation: We'll continue to play hunt the piñata with the formats as it's worked very well up to now in maintaining our monopoly on the desktop.

How about publishing an RFC the next time you 'innovate'?