JASON BROOKS
Setting a new standard
Shortcomings aside, Microsoft’s OOXML offers an opportunity
Recently, there’s been confident the lack of ISO 6,000 pages that Microsoft
a great deal of hand certification for OOXML has offered to standardiza-
wringing over the pos- would do nothing to dissuade tion bodies and do so with
sibility that Microsoft’s current Office users from less focus on teasing out
Office Open XML docu- continuing to run the suite. ISO inadequacies and more
ment format might be Microsoft’s Office franchise on identifying methods
ratified as an ISO standard. has been doing rather well for improving support for
The critics also have without standards-body- Microsoft’s legacy Office
pointed out that the specifi- recognized formats so far, formats.
cation was crafted by Micro- and many believe that even As for government lob-
soft not as a standard but without specs, the popularity bying, ODF supporters
as a means simply of repre- of Microsoft’s formats render would do better to encour-
senting its legacy office file them standard enough for age governments to ensure
formats in XML, and doing government work already. future document accessibil-
so in a way that wards off
rival format implementers
by including various Office
and Windows dependencies.
OpenOffice.org should
Without question, OOXML tap into this marginal
falls far short of being a
universal office document boost in openness.
exchange format. Consider-
ing Microsoft’s enormous
backward-compatibility com- What’s more, with or ity by archiving documents
mitments, I’d go so far as to without the ISO’s blessing, as PDFs—a format that
say OOXML’s own authors OOXML is substantially Office, OpenOffice.org and
would probably agree ODF more open than are Micro- any applications with print-
would be a superior format soft’s legacy binary formats. ing capabilities can target
on which to base a new As a user of OpenOffice. equally well.
application. org on Linux who works in Given the level playing
Now, does OOXML really a mostly Microsoft-formatted field of PDF, all comers—be
“deserve” to join the ranks world, I’m somewhat of a they ODF, OOXML or nei-
of 16,000-plus existing ISO stakeholder in the ODF-vs.- ther—can be judged not on
standards? Probably not. OOXML horse race, and I’d their format alone but on the
But, in this situation, I don’t like to see OpenOffice.org mix of functionality, platform
think it matters much. take advantage of this mar- support and cost that best
For one thing, I’m fairly ginal boost in openness. In matches the task at hand. ´
certain that ISO rejection particular, I’d like to see ven-
of OOXML will not prompt dors and projects that back e WEEK Labs Executive Editor
Microsoft to adopt ODF ODF and OpenOffice.org Jason Brooks is at jason_
for Office. I’m also pretty attack the OOXML spec’s
brooks@ziffdavis.com.
