OOXML Almost An ISO Standard!

[CadCrazy]

Good news or bad news, depends on which side you are on.

The International Standards Organization (ISO) will announce the results tomorrow -- 2 April 2008; but as the analysis/tracking of the votes show, Microsoft seemed to have won this battle. With the muscular power that Microsoft has, it wasn't impossible. What was impossible was the initial defeat in the first round held in the month of September last year.

According to the sites which are tracking the votes, so far:
Yes votes: 22
No votes: 10
Abstain votes: 9

India has given No to OOXML, but those members of the BIS Committee who voted 'Yes', seemed to have no other option owing to their close ties with Microsoft -- defy and lose all the contracts. It's simple.

But, what's surprising was even on the last day, i.e. yesterday, two major developments took place -- France shifted from disapprove to abstain whereas Norway filed a protest with ISO relating to its own vote; they are asking it to be suspended until an internal investigation is concluded over shifting NO to Yes!

Just one day ago, on 30 March 2008, Australia and Malaysia stayed as abstain. What's surprising is Linus Torvald's home country Finland has also approved OOXML format.

Czech Republic, Denmark, Korea, the United Kingdom, Ireland are the countries which changed courts from No to Yes in favour of OOXML, whereas only Venezuela took U-turn from Yes to No!

India, including Chile, Germany, Poland, South Africa, USA, Canada and New Zealand have maintained their NO!

The crux of the matter is once OOXML is approved as an ISO standard, Microsoft will have no obligation to implement ODF, the competitor. They will keep ruling the world in the manner they have been doing since ages. That was why while we had so many choices for almost everything in this world -- from cars to mobile phones, there was NO choice available in the realm of operating systems for an ordinary user until GNU/Linux entered the arena.

It must be noted that every NO to abstain is a gain for Microsoft, and every YES to abstain is a loss.

Microsoft will have its way, and its market will continue to grow.

Source

[gxsaurav]

Is that author a serious Linux Fan or an Idiot?

95% of the world uses Microsoft Office, it's document format is widely used & more or less like a standard already. How many users have u seen using ODF instead of Doc?

ODF is still there for Office, just that like before MS won't be making the ODF plugin for Office & won't even bundle it. Why should they???? They are not the ones making it, if the user wants it he can download it.

Do one thing, submit your resume somewhere in ODF format & tell us what reply u get here. If it is anything other then "Plz send the resume in MS office format" then I will pay Rs 11 to u

Microsoft has learned from the mistake & OOXML is already an ISO standard. It has everything to logically become ISO standard & those who oppose it will obviously do it in sheer fanboyism.

What the freeking problem of u guys???? U will still be sending electronic documents in PDF format, mail files to each other in MS office formats cos even if ODF is there, maximum number of users are using MS office, will u go & force them or tell them to install another plugin???

[DigitalDude]

all bow to the Microsoft overlords commanded by ballmer




_

[CadCrazy]

I hope this must be an april fool joke

[DigitalDude]

Originally Posted by CadCrazy

I hope this must be an april fool joke

yeah you never know lol I better log off and come tomorrow



_

[kumarmohit]

But is it not an open standard, AFAIK it stands for Office Open XML. Is it required to pay for it if you want to implement it or are people angry just because it is from Microsoft?

Goingt through this part, it seems open enough to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_Open_XML#Licensing

[Cyrus_the_virus]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

Microsoft has learned from the mistake & OOXML is already an ISO standard. It has everything to logically become ISO standard & those who oppose it will obviously do it in sheer fanboyism.

You have some mental illness, better see a doctor ASAP. Everyone in the world knows that OOXML is crap, not open and useless, we don't need another one of you fanboys trying to install this crap into our heads!

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

What the freeking problem of u guys????

The person with the freaking problem is fanboys like you, not us!

Please don't waste your time trying to prove OOXML as worthy more than my bathroom sandals, we all know what it's worth!

[chesss]

Is it required to pay for it if you want to implement it or are people angry just because it is from Microsoft?

good question!
nebody want to answer this?

[MetalheadGautham]

As long as its in the Public Domain or OSS, I don't care about it.
It needs to be a standard that can be implemented by each and every one.
Else it doesn't deserve ISO certification.

[slugger]

ISO Will Approve Microsoft's OOXML Format Wednesday

As the Internet buzzes with speculation regarding the outcome of Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT)'s attempt to get its OOXML document format recognized as an international standard, International Standards Organization (ISO) communications services manager Roger Frost confirmed the ISO will announce the vote count on Wednesday.

"Because ISO needs first to inform its worldwide membership of national standards bodies of these results, a press release on this subject will be issued on Wednesday, 2 April 2008," Frost wrote in an email.

Unconfirmed online news reports predicted Microsoft garnered the necessary two-thirds vote majority from the 87 countries participating in the voting, which closed Saturday night among some last minute vote reversals.

While the United States affirmed its support for the confirmation, other countries shifted positions. The Czech Republic changed its vote to one of support while Cuba changed course and decided to oppose Microsoft's efforts, The International Herald Tribune reported.

In a blog post on Friday, Brian Jones, Microsoft's OOXML technical architect, announced that Norway, South Korea, and Denmark had switched their votes from Disapprove to Approve. Standards New Zealand Chief Executive Debbie Chin affirmed in a statement on Sunday the nation opposes adoption of the OOXML specification as an international standard.

Microsoft developed OOXML for its Office 2007 suite and is positioning it as an open standard. In December 2006, OOXML was certified as an Ecma standard, and Microsoft has been pushing hard to get OOXML certified with the ISO.

Heavy lobbying from Microsoft, IBM and Sun Microsystems has also stirred up emotion, while allegations of voting irregularities caused further strain. "This is a purely commercial battle masquerading as a principled debate over open-document standards," John Zuck, Association for Competitive Technology president, told the Tribune. "If Microsoft had opened up sooner, they might not be having the problems they are having now."

Jason Matusow, Microsoft's director of corporate standards, writing in a blog post on Friday acknowledged that the issue at the heart of the matter of standards is interoperability, but insisted having more than one document format is beneficial.

"I have repeatedly made the argument that it is bad logic that leads you to the conclusion that there should be only one document format," he wrote. "If you value innovation in document creation, and you want to see applications continue to advance rapidly, and you want to see broad-based problem sets be addressed creatively -- then more innovation is good."

Source

[victor_rambo]

yay! gr8 decision!

[CadCrazy]

Similar news already posted
WTF : OOXML Almost An ISO Standard!

[slugger]

will request the MODs to merge it

[praka123]

reuters too reports:
http://www.reuters.com/article/techn...79716920080401

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by Cyrus_the_virus

You have some mental illness, better see a doctor ASAP. Everyone in the world knows that OOXML is crap, not open and useless, we don't need another one of you fanboys trying to install this crap into our heads!

Plz elaborate why OOXML is crap compared to ODF, when both are 100% Open Standards, with no properity check in OOXML left anymore.

Please don't waste your time trying to prove OOXML as worthy more than my bathroom sandals, we all know what it's worth!

Yaar, I m not a linux geek like u r , or a FOSS geek so plz tell us why ODF is better then OOXML technically.

Seems like u r hating OOXML just cos it is from Microsoft despite of it being a completely open standard now with no Microsoft control

[iMav]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

Seems like u r hating OOXML just cos it is from Microsoft despite of it being a completely open standard now with no Microsoft control

isnt it obvious considering the fact that ppl on this forum will say tht vista sp1 was hacked in a recent compretition because it has drm in built (which they say tht they will support piracy but not drm) and not reading the fact tht vista became vulnerable because of a third party application and tht too flash ... and this being a solid reason for silverlight as a much better solution .... but no silverlight is frm ms so its crap, drm is implemented by ms so its crap (sony is a great company even though it created drm)

here ppl dont critisize technology (as in good/bad based on features) but based on the brand, the yard stick for measuring a product is the brand and not the product features; after all here ppl by shampoos and bikes because a certain bollywood actor (or actress endorses it, cant say abt the personal choices of ppl )

we are at thinkantiMS.com/forum

[MetalheadGautham]

Seems like u r hating OOXML just cos it is from Microsoft despite of it being a completely open standard now with no Microsoft control

source please.

I want a proper "offitial" source from microsoft which states that I can do anything I like, commercial or non-commercial, with OOXML and allows OpenOffice, iWorks, StarOffice, AbiWord, KOffice, etc to support OOXML fully and provides adaquate doccumentation to help in doing the same.

if I get one, I accept that M$ can become MS in this context.

[iMav]

just chkd its been approved as an iso std .... indian babus still proved they cant make a right decision the reason for the success of companies like Infy, TCS is tht they know whats gonna be successful

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by MetalheadGautham

source please.

I want a proper "offitial" source from microsoft which states that I can do anything I like, commercial or non-commercial, with OOXML and allows OpenOffice, iWorks, StarOffice, AbiWord, KOffice, etc to support OOXML fully and provides adaquate doccumentation to help in doing the same.

if I get one, I accept that M$ can become MS in this context.

It is a ISO standard now, which means it is open & anyone can use it & implement it without any restrictions. This is what ISO standard means...

[MetalheadGautham]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

It is a ISO standard now, which means it is open & anyone can use it & implement it without any restrictions. This is what ISO standard means...

I am a clueless n00b when it comes to economics. I am a science/literature/computers guy.

Anyway, if that is the case, then congratulations to MS. But they need to ensure that other software are able to easily implement its format.

PS: wasn't OOXML originally OpenOfficeXML ?

[Cyrus_the_virus]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

Plz elaborate why OOXML is crap compared to ODF, when both are 100% Open Standards, with no properity check in OOXML left anymore.

Yaar, I m not a linux geek like u r , or a FOSS geek so plz tell us why ODF is better then OOXML technically.

Seems like u r hating OOXML just cos it is from Microsoft despite of it being a completely open standard now with no Microsoft control

And so you thought....


Reason are more than what the human mind can comprehend:

Few of the technical reasons:

1.> The Disharmony of OOXML

2.> Major Defects still Remain unsolved!

3.> OOXML is based on MS-Office. No standard is tied to or evolves from a product. Standards are vendor independent but OOXML is heavily dependent on MS-Office. In short, it's just another MS-Office format!


Voting Process reasons:

1.> ISO changing the whole process just for one company! (double standards)

2.> Utter-nonsense voting (eg: Norway's 19 members voted NO against 5 and and Norway;s vote was registered as 'YES'!!)

3.> Bribing and faking(Not necessary if the product is worthy by itself)

4.> Not discussing the proposed 3000+ changes to the sad format! Just voting 'yes' & 'no' without even checking if the problem has been sorted to suit the time frames for one company! wtf?

5.> ISO officials, others dispute claims thatOpen XML meeting was flawed

6.> Nevermind the bulls**t, here's OOXML, says Microsoft


I guess this should be enought to prove your assumptions wrong that it's only about hating microsoft! Dude, OOXML is crap in the current state which can be seen from the links posted above. It might be worthy enough to be an ISO standard without MS needing to bribe and use cheap tactics if the fix the issues discussed in the first ISO meeting... but wait.. what will you understand being an MS fanboy.. sigh...

[MetalheadGautham]

@cyrus: don't tell ethical stuff. Please tell us some technical stuff which makes ODF better or worser than OOXML.

[Cyrus_the_virus]

Originally Posted by MetalheadGautham

@cyrus: don't tell ethical stuff. Please tell us some technical stuff which makes ODF better or worser than OOXML.

1st point give is clear enough as to why odf is better, will post more..

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by Cyrus_the_virus

And so you thought....


Reason are more than what the human mind can comprehend:

Few of the technical reasons:

1.> The Disharmony of OOXML

2.> Major Defects still Remain unsolved!

3.> OOXML is based on MS-Office. No standard is tied to or evolves from a product. Standards are vendor independent but OOXML is heavily dependent on MS-Office. In short, it's just another MS-Office format!

Lolz...no more discussion, stick to your terminal....you hardly know anything of reality.

[iMav]

Originally Posted by Cyrus_the_virus

3.> OOXML is based on MS-Office. No standard is tied to or evolves from a product. Standards are vendor independent but OOXML is heavily dependent on MS-Office. In short, it's just another MS-Office format!

an absolutely rubbish statement, just because a company made a standard based on a product that is the most used read and understand this - ms office is the numero uno office suite used so a format for it by defacto is or should be made or should be considerd a standard

[Cyrus_the_virus]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

Lolz...no more discussion, stick to your terminal....you hardly know anything of reality.

I didn't expect anything more than that @gx, we know who is far from reality, and we do realize that you sadly still sleep in the MS dream world. Thanks for confirming that by not answering the issues posted. Wait, MS can't sort it, then what will you answer?

Originally Posted by iMav

an absolutely rubbish statement, just because a company made a standard based on a product that is the most used read and understand this - ms office is the numero uno office suite used so a format for it by defacto is or should be made or should be considerd a standard

Dream on fanboy, if the entire world starts to use what you think of as a standard, then everyone would be using application specifics protocols and not standards. lolz.. can't believe your ignorance man.

BTW, the view above is not just mine but a majority of the what the standards world believes is a standard

[gxsaurav]

Instead of calling me & iMav, why don't u just state why is ODF better then OOXML technically?

[MetalheadGautham]

Originally Posted by iMav

an absolutely rubbish statement, just because a company made a standard based on a product that is the most used read and understand this - ms office is the numero uno office suite used so a format for it by defacto is or should be made or should be considerd a standard

actually, you lost a point there.
a true ISO standard is supposed to be such that it can be implemented by anyone and everyone, not just by a majority. So weather its a crazy chap running BeOS, or a richboy mac user, or a hardcore vista addict or a tux geek, all of them must be able to use it.

[gxsaurav]

That is why an ISO standard is made so that anyone can implement it freely.

[Cyrus_the_virus]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

Instead of calling me & iMav, why don't u just state why is ODF better then OOXML technically?

Stop your deceptive crap. I've already mentioned them, stop playing around in circles to try to fool everyone. The 1st point itself if more than enough to prove your question.

Secondly, stop the crap about prove if ODF is better than OOXML. This is what is wrong with MS and it's bunch of fanboys, they turn everything into a competitive thing. Open standards don't compete with each other, they complement each other. The point again is about OOXML being worthy of ISO standardization and not OOXML v/s ODF. The points mentioned above clearly show why it was never worthty of becoming an ISO standard due to conflicts within itself and to what the majority of the open standard world knows about. Unfortunately, we live in a world that has murder, corrupt politicians, fraud, bribery and Microsoft. This is just another case of money power winning over while the truth remains shunted for the profit of the people who support it and not for the profit of the people who are going to use them.

So, @gx, first, try to atleast give an explanation to the points listed which everyone knows that even MS doesn't have to answer to. Then you can play your 'ringa, ringa roses' game and run around in circles by keeping on asking for more and manupulating things.

Originally Posted by MetalheadGautham

actually, you lost a point there.
a true ISO standard is supposed to be such that it can be implemented by anyone and everyone, not just by a majority. So weather its a crazy chap running BeOS, or a richboy mac user, or a hardcore vista addict or a tux geek, all of them must be able to use it.

+1, but who's going to listen?