[odf-discuss] Microsoft will now support ODF

[Christian Einfeldt]

On Thu, May 22, 2008 at 3:20 AM, Daniel Carrera <daniel.carrera at zmsl.com>
wrote:

>
> Wait... I missed that last one. OOXML will not be in MS Office 2007?


Yeah, check out this passage in Andy Updegrove's blog, quoting David
Worthington:

http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20080521092930864

Worthington's story includes quotes from Matusow and Mahugh that provide
intriguing insights into how the decisions were made.  After noting that
saving to the OASIS ODF 1.1 format would now be possible, Worthington
writes:

However, the company is not quick to embrace its own creation. Mahugh stated
that Microsoft would not implement the final ISO version of OOXML until
Office 14 ships at an unstated date in the future. This variant of OOXML was
designated ISO/IEC 29500 at the time it was
certified<http://www.sdtimes.com/content/article.aspx?ArticleID=31940>as
an ISO International standard in April.

 "One way to look at it is the prioritization of formats," Mahugh explained.
"We reach a point in time where we have to decide whether to continue to
invest in a previous version [of Office] or to cut the cord and move
forward."

 ODF support was a priority for Microsoft, Mahugh noted, adding that "real
world" customers say that there is a pressing need for PDF [AU: ODF?]
support. "At this point there are no products using [ISO/IEC 29500] in the
marketplace."

When will Microsoft support its own file format?  Worthingon quotes Gartner
Research's Michael Silver on that question as follows:

"Customers that are expecting true document fidelity from XML-based,
ISO-standard document formats will continue to be disappointed."  Silver
observed that the most compatible formats to use today are Microsoft's
legacy binaries, and he believes that Microsoft will be unlikely to convince
customers to move to OOXML in the foreseeable future.


-- 
Christian Einfeldt,
Producer, The Digital Tipping Point
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