Microsoft XML Formats to Be Certified as International Standards

The ECMA International standards board will approve Microsoft's Office Open XML file format technology as international standards, today Thursday 7, 2006. Following the approval from ECMA International, Microsoft's XML formats will advance to the next level of approval from the International Standards Organization (ISO). ISO certification could spread over nine months.

Once approved as international standard, the Microsoft Office XML formats will deliver the Redmond Company a stake into long-term access to digital documents. "We believe it is critically important to place ISO approval of Open XML on a fast track," said CompTIA president and CEO John Venator. "Many governments and public agencies have recently promulgated, or are currently considering the promulgation of, document format policies on open standards approved by ISO."

ODF has already been ISO certified and it has positioned itself as a viable alternative to Microsoft's formats being increasingly adopted. With the Office Open XML file format, the Redmond Company aims to consolidate its domination on the market, a status eroded by ODF.

"This is important. What's at stake is that a technology-based society is coming to grips with aspects of technology that they have foolishly ignored to date," said Andrew Updegrove, an attorney for OASIS. "ODF and Linux represent the first chinks in Microsoft's armor in a long time. And just like the way Microsoft is going to do everything it can to protect its desktop software business, others are going to do all they can to exploit that weakness."

"For governments, it's control of IT budgets that's at stake," said Sam Hiser, vice president and director of business affairs at the Open Document Foundation. "Open source gives government users real flexibility. It gives them control over budgets and they like that they can mix and match software. Competition among multiple open document standards will enhance innovation in document formats and increase flexibility and interoperability all to the benefit of software consumers. The approval of Open XML as an open standard will ensure that digital content is more efficiently stored and managed today as well as into the future."