[A2k] Reuters: Microsoft gets another shot at Open XML standard

[Michelle Childs]

A Microsoft representative was asked  about this  at  the
Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) meeting on Open standards in
Brussels this  month in front of Commission officials.

(disclosure: KEI is a member of TACD)
Michelle Childs
Head of European Affairs
Knowledge Ecology International
michelle.childs@cptech.org

"The world we have made, as a result of the level of thinking we have
done thus far, creates problems we cannot solve at the same level of
thinking at which we created them=94 Albert Einstein

On 26 Feb 2008, at 20:01, Taran Rampersad wrote:

> I think it is being ignored. When is the last time that Microsoft was
> questioned about the lack of support of other open standards in
> Microsoft Office? Had they done so, it stands to reason that polarized
> discussions about one open standard versus another would be pointless.
> In essence, Microsoft picked the ground and everyone is launching
> criticisms at what Microsoft wants to be criticized.
>
> The cost of supporting other open standards for Microsoft is
> relatively
> low. They are spending more money to make this a polarized issue, and
> have been quite successful in doing it because no one speaks of that
> elephant in the middle of the table. Think about it. Why else would
> Microsoft not support other open formats and then create their own?
>
> That is the throat. If you want to take a giant down, paper cuts might
> work but I heard a story once about a well placed stone...
>
> Rishab Ghosh wrote:
>> i don't think it's being ignored... the entire focus of the opera-
>> inspired european anti-trust case agains microsoft that's just
>> started is internet explorer's improper implementation of web
>> standards.
>>
>> -rishab
>>
>> On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 02:57:13PM -0400, Taran Rampersad wrote:
>>
>>> No one seems to be talking about the elephant in the middle of the
>>> table. Microsoft could actually support other open standards. We
>>> know
>>> why it doesn't, but that doesn't mean that it should be neglected
>>> in all
>>> of these discussions.
>>>
>>> Thiru Balasubramaniam wrote:
>>>
>>>> <SNIP>
>>>>
>>>> Standardisation of Open XML, which is the default file-saving
>>>> format
>>>> in Microsoft Office 2007, would allow other companies to build
>>>> products using the file format and simplify file exchange between
>>>> different software suites.
>>>>
> --
> Taran Rampersad
> cnd@knowprose.com
>
> http://www.knowprose.com
> http://www.your2ndplace.com
> http://www.opendepth.com
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/knowprose/
>
> "Criticize by Creating" - Michelangelo
> "The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is
> mine." - Nikola Tesla
>
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