Zaheda Bhorat

"Google believes OOXML would be an insufficient and unnecessary standard, designed purely around the needs of Microsoft Office," wrote Open Source Programs Manager Zaheda Bhorat.  "We join the ODF Alliance and many other experts in our belief that OOXML doesn’t meet the criteria required for a globally-accepted standard."

The three links in that last sentence were all put there by Bhorat, by the way, and not WebProNews.  Google appears to be providing as much evidence and support for its position as possible.

Microsoft’s not exactly staying silent, though.  A spokesperson told David Meyer, "Everyone wants to use their data in slightly different ways.  Furthermore, multiple standards can foster a healthy, competitive industry.  By developing tools like the [Office] Open XML-ODF translators and making them widely available, we are promoting customer choice, which is our top priority."

ISO members have a little more than one month left to agree with either one argument or the other; at the end of March, a voting deadline should at least temporarily settle the matter.

In an einterview on Thursday, Updegrove said that by supporting ODF as an ANSI standard, Microsoft is “making it appear it is rising above the squabble to do the right thing.” Instead, he thinks the move serves as a challenge to vocal ODF supporters to support approval of Open XML as a global standard when a final vote for the draft specification comes before the ISO.

To its credit, Microsoft voted for ODF when it came before the ISO (International Organization for Standards), while IBM cast the only negative vote for Open XML when it was up for approval by standards organization Ecma International, Updegrove added.

People talk about Microsoft being all evil and anticompetitive, especially against loved open source movements like ODF, but beneath everything I see the hulking machine that is IBM, trying to cut off Microsoft. Being evil and convincing everyone you’re a happy little open open source movement, that’s true evil. After all, what did we say about the devil’s greatest trick?

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It was Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s new chief software architect as well as the inventor of Lotus Notes, who let slip the suggestion that an ODF plugin for Microsoft Office would be developed.

That’s the contention of Andy Updegrove, who follows standards issues on his ConsortiumInfo blog. He noted in an email that as recently as May 19th of this year, Microsoft continued to withhold information on the project.

That was the date Microsoft replied to a state of Massachusetts request for information on plugins. With ODF gaining popularity, and public attention, in Europe, it appears Microsoft chose to follow that with its announcement.

This may also have been an attempt to generate some good press for the company before the European Commission decides whether or not Microsoft should be fined for failing to comply with antitrust rulings.

Updegrove cited Microsoft’s action as a “concession” to interoperability desired by users at the government level:

Microsoft’s capitulation on building an ODF plugin became news last week. The company announced the creation of the project, and made a download of a Word 2007 prototype available.

Despite the concession, Microsoft did not let the fight end without tossing a late jab at ODF:

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In a press release, Microsoft said this demonstrates that it is “expanding on its customer-focused commitment to interoperability.” “By enabling this translator, we will make both choice and interoperability a more practical option for our customers,” stated Jean Paoli, the general manager of interoperability and XML architecture at Microsoft.

“We believe that Open XML meets the needs of millions of organizations for a new approach to file formats, so we are sharing it with the industry by submitting it, with others, to become a worldwide standard,” Paoli continued. “Yet it is very important that customers have the freedom to choose from a range of technologies to meet their diverse needs.”

Bob Sutor had some reservations about Microsoft’s wording, but was essentially pleased with the project’s implications. It is “one in a long series of positive, momentum building events surrounding the OpenDocument Format and open standards in general . . . . I expect that this will significantly accelerate the adoption of ODF by governments around the world,” he wrote.

Andrew Hopkirk, the director of the U.K.’s National Computing Centre’s e-Government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF) Programme, was quoted in the Microsoft press release. His opinion about the Open XML Translator project was also positive. “It can only be good for the IT industry’s customers and product and service innovators,” he said.

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This could be the final bell in the bout between Microsoft and the state of Massachusetts over file formats. Microsoft announced the initiation of the Open XML Translator project, where they and partners will create tools to enable users of the Office productivity suite to do something Microsoft had resisted for some time: save files in OpenDocument Format (ODF) filetypes.

The announcement has to be cast within the context of Microsoft’s ongoing battles with the state of Massachusetts over document formats. The State had called for replacing proprietary file formats with open ones to ensure electronic document preservation.

Microsoft stated it would not enable ODF compatibility for Office. The prospect of Massachusetts tossing out thousands of copies of Office in favor of an ODF-compatible product posed a considerable financial issue for Microsoft.

In May 2006, Massachusetts issued a request for information for an OpenDocument Format Plug-in for Microsoft Office Suite. That may have led to Microsoft’s formal support of developing one.

Microsoft did take a jab at ODF in its statement announcing the Translator project. They present Open XML as a more comprehensive solution to file formatting issues, while claiming “ODF focuses on more limited requirements.”

When developed, the Translator tools will be freely available under open source licenses. A prototype of the Translator plug-in for Word 2007 has been made available under a BSD license.

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Consortiuminfo.org’s Andy Updegrove reported on the new appointment of a state CIO for Massachusetts, and how that CIO, Louis Gutierrez, would continue Quinn’s work at implementing ODF. The proposal calls for state offices to be able to save electronic documents that will not require a potentially-unsupported proprietary solution to access them in the future.

The world’s top technology company, Microsoft, makes a lot of its revenue from its proprietary solution, the Office productivity suite. When news began to circulate in September about the recommendation from Quinn to make ODF support a state policy, a battle of words quickly followed. Microsoft criticized the recommendation publicly, and said it had no intention of supporting ODF within Office.

Further criticism of the proposal appeared on the FoxNews.com website. Humorously enough, it turned out the author of the critical article, one Jim Prendergast, worked for a Microsoft-funded organization, Americans for Technology Leadership. That association was not noted in the original article but later added by Fox News.

Gutierrez has Romney’s backing to finish the work Quinn started. Updegrove discussed this further in his post:

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.