Adobe CEO urges snazzier .gov sites, boost in U.S. e-government
,----[ Quote ]
| Just look at the Internal Revenue Service, which allows taxpayers to
| download and print out forms but still can't accept them
| electronically without help from a third party, the CEO of the
| firm behind the ubiquitous Portable Document Format (PDF) said Wednesday.
`----
http://news.com.com/2061-10796_3-6155121.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
If I recall correctly, the US government makes some key documents and forms
available in Microsoft Office formats (proprietary and pricey). I can't
recall if it was a PDF that I printed for my cousin, but American Web sites
tend to be Microsoft-oriented. Just look at FEMA...
Related:
ECIS Accuses Microsoft of Plotting HTML Hijack
,----[ Quote ]
| An industry coalition that has represented competitors of Microsoft
| in European markets before the European Commission stepped up its
| public relations offensive this morning, this time accusing
| Microsoft of scheming to upset HTML's place in the fabric of
| the Internet with XAML, an XML-based layout lexicon forn
| etwork applications.
`----
http://www.betanews.com/article/ECIS_Accuses_Microsoft_of_Plotting_HTML_Hijack/1169824569
Software rivals say Microsoft's Vista illegal in Europe (at CNNMoney.com)
,----[ Excerpt ]
| Software manufacturers, citing 2004 European Commission finding,
| contend the operating system violates server laws in Europe.
|
| [...]
|
| "Vista is the first step of Microsoft's strategy to extend its market
| dominance to the Internet," the ECIS statement said.
|
| It said Microsoft's XAML markup language was "positioned to replace HTML,"
| the industry standard for publishing documents on the Internet.
|
| Microsoft's own language would be dependent on Windows, and discriminatory
| against rival systems such as Linux, the group says.
|
| They said a so-called "open XML" platform file format, known as OOXML, is
| designed to run seamlessly only on the Microsoft Office platform.
`----
http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/26/news/international/bc.vista.microsoft.eu.reut/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote
Windows Vista Product Guide: Free to Download, $149 to Read
,----[ Quote ]
| 'Windows Vista Product Guide' was released in two formats:
|
| Microsoft Office Word 2007
| The standard .doc format isn't good enough, you need to be able to
| read a .docx file, so all those users of Office XP are just plain
| out of luck on
| this one.
|
| XPS
| What the heck is XPS? I hadn't heard of it before now, (a quick
| Google tells me XPS is Microsoft's proprietary rival to PDF)
| but apparently you need a special reader for it (which is
| kindly enough built into Vista, but nothing else).
`----
http://itsvista.com/2006/12/windows-vista-product-guide-free-to-download-149-to-read/
Adobe could still sue Microsoft: paper
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft's new Vista software, due to be released early next
| year, contains a version of fixed document formats which would
| compete with Adobe's PDF format. Microsoft has pledged to make
| changes to its version.
`----
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061118/tc_nm/adobe_microsoft_dc
Vista to give HD Photo format more exposure
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is looking to supplant the ubiquitous JPEG with an image format
| of its own--and it's hoping the debut of Windows Vista will help do the
| job.
`----
http://news.com.com/Vista+to+give+HD+Photo+format+more+exposure/2100-1045_3-6153730.html
|
|
