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Australian Government Denies Microsoft Bias In OOXML Choice

Posted by timothy on from the have-you-never-heard-of-coincidence dept.

An anonymous reader writes "It looks like the Australian Government is not taking criticism of its decision to mandate Microsoft's Office Open XML standard lying down. 'The policy is vendor-neutral which allows its principles and standards to be used across any platform,' they said this week. Yup ... except for the fact that almost no other office suite apart from Microsoft Office supports writing to the standard. And as for Firefox? Turns out 96 percent of Australian Government desktops use Internet Explorer. Looks like bureaucracy is winning here."

4 of 193 comments (clear)

  1. Choice by js3 · · Score: -1, Troll

    if that's what the Australian government wants, who are you to complain? Haven't other governments mandated use of other open source software? what did we turn into effing communists? let them use what they want.

    --
    did you forget to take your meds?
    1. Re:Choice by YoshiDan · · Score: -1, Troll

      Oh please. Most offices I've been in run 2003 or higher. Office 2003 supports docx via a compatibility update that was released for it after Office 2007 came out.

      So you can read docx files in Open Office? Interesting how everyone here is carrying on that no other office suites support these formats.

      The freetards are all alike. If it was the other way around and the government had mandated an Open Source format/application to be the only thing allowed they'd all be cheering. Sounds like a double standard to me.

  2. Re:No bias at all. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    WebM? A single vendor supports it and the FSF came out today in support of it.

  3. Sure its biased by ugen · · Score: 1, Troll

    The only way it would not be considered biased here on /. is if it selected Linux and Open Office ;) Sheesh.

    (Let's see how soon collective /. consciousness mods this down to "troll" so as not to see an opinion different from the general consensus)