__/ [ Gordon ] on Friday 05 January 2007 17:58 \__
> B Gruff wrote:
>
>> On Friday 05 January 2007 17:39 Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>> | As Microsoft prepares the biggest update ever of its ubiquitous
>>> | Office software suite, it is once again fending off charges of using
>>> | hardball business tactics to muscle out competitors.
>>> |
>>> | [...]
>>> |
>>> | Massachusetts is not alone in realizing that proprietary document
>>> | formats pose a problem for cross platform organizations.
>>> |
>>> | "Public administrations and regulated businesses were worried about
>>> | meeting Freedom of Information requirements if documents were stored
>>> | in a long-extinct proprietary data format," says John McCreesh,
>>> | marketing project lead for OpenOffice.org.
>>> |
>>> | The international community has yet to decide on a standard document
>>> | format, though recent trends see ODF gaining ground. Seven nations
>>> | (Brazil, France, Germany, Belgium, Croatia, Norway and Demark)
>>> | have recognized ODF and the need for open standards for all
>>> | government documents.
>>> |
>>> | Microsoft's intentions notwithstanding, multiple standards mean
>>> | added headaches for the competition. Rival online productivity
>>> | suites like Zoho, Google Docs and Spreadsheets, which are quickly
>>> | gaining popularity, and open-source desktop apps Sun Microsystem's
>>> | OpenOffice all currently support ODF and not OOXML.
>>> |
>>> | "Zoho will have to support both formats and will do it going
>>> | forward," says Zoho's Raju Vegesna. "While we support standards,
>>> | we also have to look at practicality."
>>> |
>>> | "If we were to choose a format, we would pick ODF," says
>>> | Vegesna.
>>> `----
>>>
>>>
>>
>
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/software/0,72403-0.html?tw=wn_technology_7";
>>
>> "Microsoft's campaign against ODF can largely be chalked up to fear of
>> being left behind by one of its most lucrative customer bases -- the
>> government and institution sector. In fact, only when Massachusetts
>> proposed ODF as the default file format for its state agencies in 2005 did
>> Microsoft move to submit Open XML as an alternative standard"
>
> What I *cannot* understand is, if MS wanted to keep the Ma business, why
> didn't they just add ODF capability to MS Office, instead of a) initiating
> the usual mudslinging FUD and b) inventing their own "open" document
> format?
Microsoft's first and foremost goal is to ensure that counterparts do not
stand on even grounds. The opponents must always catch up by
backward-engineering obscure things (e.g. Samba) and then discover the
extension /du dour/, which of course breaks compatibility (and thus
interoperability). As Ballmer said, "we (Microsoft) ARE the standard".
--
~~ Best wishes for the new year!
Roy S. Schestowitz | Get the most out of your hardware. Get Linux.
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